NEWS
BLM strives to monitor Otero Mesa balancing act More than a hundred wells had been dug in Otero Mesa in the hundred years before Heyco Energy Group"s turn in 1996, but none produced gas or oil until the Roswell-based company dug 1-Y and 25-1. These two test wells detected natural gas reserves large enough to prompt four more applications for drilling permits and a request for a pipeline. The federal land agency approved the permits and the pipeline, but suspended drilling until it could revise its 1986 management plan for the ecologically sensitive mesa. A draft of the revision was released for public comment in October 2000, and a final record of decision and management plan appeared in January 2005. The new plan featured an unprecedented 5 percent use stipulation, which requires leaseholders to treat all their leases as one, and only disturb 5 percent of that total lease area at a time. The plan also stipulates that oil and gas developers must restore the disturbed areas to "a composition and density that closely approximates the surrounding vegetation as prescribed by the BLM, and is free of noxious weeds," before moving on to the next 5 percent of their leased parcel....
Ski group wants to remove roadless designation on 8,000 acres The trade association for 26 Colorado ski areas is seeking to remove 8,000 acres from the U.S. Forest Service's inventoried roadless areas. Colorado Ski Country USA supports preserving most of the 4.43 million roadless acres in the state, but it wants to remove the roadless designation from land within ski-area permit boundaries. The roadless designation does not prohibit skiing, but the use of roadless lands can pose public relations headaches, Arapahoe Basin general manager Alan Henceroth said. Aspen Skiing Co. is facing opposition from some environmentalists and backcountry skiers over a plan to add skiing terrain within its ski-area permit boundary. One of the opposition's arguments is it would harm roadless lands....
Forest Service workers report growing dangers on the job For the nation's forest rangers, the serenity of the woods increasingly is giving way to confrontations with unruly visitors. Attacks, threats and lesser altercations invo|ving Forest Service workers reached an all-time high last year, according to government documents obtained by a public employees advocacy group. Incidents ranged from gunshots to stalking and verbal abuse. The agency tally shows 477 such reports in 2005, compared with 88 logged a year earlier. The total in 2003 was 104; in 1995, it was 34. Among the more serious incidents, a Forest Service worker was run down by a man in a snowmobile in California's Lake Tahoe Basin Management area. The man pleaded guilty to assault with a deadly weapon. Also, Forest Service workers were shot at while trying to confiscate a marijuana plantation in California's Angeles National Forest. Two loaded shotguns and more than 78 kilograms of processed marijuana were seized. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility obtained the documents through a Freedom of Information Act request and provided them to the Associated Press....
Ranchers keep leery eye on Army Life clings tenuously here to the limestone soil, dry as baby powder and so fragile that wagon tracks still trace the Santa Fe Trail more than 100 years after pioneers rolled southwest. Ranchers and soldiers are uneasy neighbors, but they agree on one thing: it takes a lot of land to do just about anything in this arid region. Cattle need 60 acres apiece to survive on the short-grass prairie, and ranches often stretch across tens of thousands of acres. The Army’s own spread, the Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site, about 150 miles southeast of Fort Carson, covers 375 square miles and is facing a major increase in training demands. Maj. Gen. Robert Mixon says Fort Carson will soon be responsible for training 25,000 active-duty troops and every Reserve and National Guard soldier west of the Mississippi River — more than 230,000 of them. Mixon knows Piñon Canyon won’t take the pounding of up to 50,000 soldiers rampaging their way through mock war. Without more land, experts say, boots and 72-ton tanks will grind the area into a moonscape. Stopping by the canyon to visit troops in training, Mixon says he needs as much as 725 square miles more to get the job done....
Rainbow Family faces fines but not eviction Thousands of campers flocking to a gathering of the Rainbow Family won't face eviction from a meadow north of town but could face fines and jail time after the U.S. Forest Service denied them a permit, officials said Friday. The counterculture group originally didn't apply for the permit, required of any gathering of more than 74 people, even though the event is expected to draw 20,000 people. When some members did apply this week, officials denied it, citing fire danger, limited road access and other planned events nearby. Rangers will warn campers as they arrive, give them a chance to leave and cite them if they don't, Forest Service spokeswoman Denise Ottaviano said. They could be fined up to $5,000 and sentenced to up to six months in jail if convicted. Ottaviano said the Rainbow Family campers are putting themselves in potential danger because of high fire danger and poor access to the meadow in the Routt National Forest....
Free spirits evoke fear Never has a rainbow struck so much fear. Near Steamboat Springs this week, area law enforcement officers tried to calm residents concerned about the annual gathering of the Rainbow Family of Living Light. The counterculture event 30 miles north of Steamboat Springs is expected to draw 20,000 people. Officers from the U.S. Forest Service, Steamboat Springs police and fire departments, Routt County Department of Environmental Health, North Routt Fire Protection District and Routt County Sheriff's Office held a community meeting Friday to answer questions and explain to the general public how to best handle the July 1 to 7 gathering, which is being held at Big Red Park north of Columbine. Police Capt. Joel Rae told residents that everyone should be more aware of locking cars and homes and safeguarding personal possessions and belongings....
Voters to decide in November whether to accept Santa Clara County initiative The fate of a land-use initiative that seeks to save half of the undeveloped lands and hillsides in Santa Clara County has been placed in the hands of voters come Nov. 7. But the battle already being waged by opposing sides of the issue is sure to give San Benito residents an unpleasant sense of deja vu. Like San Benito's unsuccessful slow-growth Measure G of 2004, the Santa Clara County Land Conservation Initiative would increase new parcel sizes on hillsides, large scale agricultural operations and ranchlands, ultimately decreasing the amount of new homes being built in these areas from some 40 homes to 20 a year. Of the county's 836,000 acres of privately owned rural properties, the initiative would affect 400,000 acres - mostly the sprawling hills and ranches to the south of San Jose, throughout the Mount Hamilton area and outside Morgan Hill and Gilroy city limits, up to the San Benito County line. And as resulted in San Benito's slow growth battle, both sides anticipate a buildup to a war of words between now and Election Day. The issue is expected to pit ranch and rural property owners and developers on one side against environmentalists and county residents advocating slow growth. The former will call it a "land-grab," the latter will dub it a last chance to rein in sprawl....
New Land Coalition to Protect Working Ranchlands Even with several land trusts, operating in Ridgway, Telluride and Montrose, dedicated to preserving agricultural land and open space, Ouray County has fallen behind in terms of land conservation. According to a 2004 assessment by the Colorado Conservation Trust, the Northern San Juan region – and Ouray County, especially – is facing rapidly increasing development of working ranchlands to subdivisions. It also found inadequate public funding in San Miguel County – and a complete lack of any public funding in Ouray County for the purchase of conservation easements or development rights to preserve open space in the region. Residential development in Ouray County and along the San Juan Skyway through San Miguel County is leading to the fragmentation of wildlife habitat, degradation of view corridors and negative impacts on water resources. Increasing land values threaten the existence of a stable rural economy in general, not to mention ranch families ability to preserve their land, from generation to generation. In March of last year, leaders of the Black Canyon Land Trust formed a coalition with the Colorado Conservation Trust, the Nature Conservancy and the Trust for Land Restoration. Called the Northern San Juan Initiative, it focuses on protecting private land through an aggressive education program for willing private landowners, offering step-by-step assistance in creating conservation easements (and understanding their economic benefit)....
U.S. study cautious about west desert aquifer pumping A new report issued by the U.S. Geological Survey indicates that numerous areas in and around Great Basin National Park could be affected by a groundwater pumping project that has been proposed by Las Vegas water officials. Opponents of the project who live in eastern Nevada and western Utah say the study confirms their worst suspicions about the Southern Nevada Water Authority's plan to tap groundwater in the Snake and Spring valleys near the park and send it to Las Vegas via a 200-mile pipeline. A Utah water official, though, says it is too early to draw conclusions. The USGS study, released last week, identified five locations in Great Basin and another five outside the park that are "likely susceptible" to groundwater withdrawals, though it did not attempt to quantify how big a withdrawal would be necessary to trigger problems. The Southern Nevada Water Authority has proposed taking 25,000 acre-feet per year out of the giant aquifer that straddles the Utah-Nevada state line - which officials say would leave plenty for the region's ecosystem and scattered cattle ranchers who reside and earn their living there....
Neighbors: Farmer's devices block rain Farmer John Smith's spinach is dense, green and unblemished, just as it should be. His iceberg lettuce is still tiny, but healthy, with leaves sprouting whole and unmarred. They'll hopefully stay that way, Smith says, thanks to the eight hail cannons stationed across his 3,800-acre Southern Colorado Farms, aimed at the sky and poised to fire off sound waves that supposedly stop the nasty ice pellets that can ravage his crop. Smith believes in his cannons. So do many of his neighbors in the San Luis Valley. That's the problem. Although Smith maintains that his cannons, $40,000 apiece, can stave off the damage from summer storms, others are convinced they're doing more than that -- stopping the rain as well, drying up an already parched land and killing their livelihood. "We need all the water we can get, and they're stopping it from raining," said Don Evans, one of the ranchers upset with Smith. He's become their scapegoat, said Smith, a former district attorney in Alamosa. "Nobody likes the drought," he said. "It has to be someone's fault." If some ranchers blame Smith, they're also reserving some of their wrath for the Colorado Water Conservation Board, which recently renewed Smith's weather modification permit for the next year. The board concluded that the cannons' effectiveness was questionable, but that there was no evidence they were causing harm....
New CAFO Rule Complies with Court Ruling The American Farm Bureau Federation today commended the Environmental Protection Agency for its proposed Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations rule, released yesterday, saying it would make it easier for farmers and ranchers to operate without onerous federal regulation. AFBF said that the proposed rule appeared to comply with a 2005 court ruling that only those livestock operations that actually discharge or propose to discharge pollution are required to apply for discharge permits. “AFBF will continue to analyze the fine points of the proposed rule, and will submit extensive comments to EPA,” said AFBF President Bob Stallman. “But, at first glance, it looks like the agency did what it needed to do in order to bring federal CAFO regulations into line with the court’s interpretation of the Clean Water Act. We applaud EPA for following the Second Circuit’s ruling....
National Wool Judging Winners Honored Val Verde County's senior wool judges were named top judging team in the nation during the 46th annual National 4-H Wool Judging Contest in Sonora. The contest was held in conjunction with the 69th annual Sonora Wool and Mohair Show and the sixth annual FFA Wool Judging Contest this month. The team's score of 1,784 was only 10 points higher than the second place Sutton County team's. The Val Verde County team members are Laura Allen, Houston Dobbins and Alex Scharton. Laura's father, John Allen, Texas Cooperative Extension agent for Val Verde County, and Bill Zuberbueler, Val Verde County rancher, coached the winning team. Laura's score of 639 points earned her top individual honors....
Bucking the myth about mules For mule shower Bobbi Richmond, it's all about the challenge - the challenge of training mules and proving they're not stubborn and lazy. They're just as capable as horses. The Willamina rancher should know. She returned in late May from the Green Western Pleasure event in Mule Days in Bishop, Calif., as the world champion of mule showing and riding. Going against 45 of the best mule showers in the country, as well as Brazil, Canada and Mexico, Richmond and her 5-year-old mule, Roulette, came out on top. Richmond said, "It was an honor, being able to show with them. I worked hard to get there. For Richmond, the challenge not only lies in training mules, but also breaking the mule stereotype of being lazy and stubborn. "Mules can do anything a horse can do and sometimes even better," she said laughing. "They're the best of both worlds, I tell you what." Richmond described her mules as sure-footed, like donkeys, and athletic and good-minded like horses....
Western goods command premiums Charlie Sands of Jackson was visiting Thursday to do a little furniture shopping, but he knew he was in trouble when he saw an end table sell for nearly $11,000. In town for the Cody Old West Auction, Sands wanted to pick up an original Thomas Molesworth end table. But he dropped out of the bidding at around $6,000. "I really didn't want to go over $5,000, so I'm not sad I lost," Sands said. "I heard there were some heavy hitters here, so obviously some fat cat spent $10,000 on it the way you or I would spend $1." On a day when an oil painting fetched around $50,000 and a saddle sold for close to $90,000, everyone had his own idea of what a "heavy hitter" was. But it's safe to say folks spent plenty of money on chaps, spurs, art, furniture, guns and other Western artifacts during the popular auction, now in its 17th year and started by Brian Lebel, formerly of Cody. Bob Nelson, owner of Manitou Galleries in Cheyenne and Santa Fe, N.M., was keeping an eye on the auction Thursday, and will show pieces today at the Riley Arena as part of a companion show to the auction. Prices for Western collectibles have been climbing for years, said Nelson, and are booming lately thanks to what he said was an infusion of Texas oil money into an already hot market....
Bumpy ride on the Broken Trail Alan Geoffrion, a big man with the kind of bushy mustache favored in the Old West, knows horses as well as anyone in the stable-and-saddle country of Northern Virginia. As the co-owner of Campbell House Stables he has been transporting horses to buyers across the United States for years. But he always yearned to be a writer. Before he settled into the cab of his truck, his routine had been to pack several books on tape. When he wearied of other writers' words, the English- major dropout allowed his mind to range over lines and bits of dialogue for the novels he intended to write, one of these days. Now Geoffrion's long-haul literary musings have come to happy fruition. At 59, Geoffrion has just seen the publication of his first book, Broken Trail, its release paired with a film version, a two-part mini-series that stars veteran actor Robert Duvall. It certainly helped that Duvall was his friend and fellow horseman - and wanted the project to happen. The Oscar winner not only produced Broken Trail and co-starred, but he also served as Geoffrion's writing coach and guided him through the treacherous terrain of Hollywood....
Gunplay followed path of lawlessness to the grave After leaving the Utah State Penitentiary, Clarence L. "Gunplay" Maxwell found work in Carbon County. During a mining strike, the Utah Fuel Co. hired him to help protect its property and act as a bodyguard for its lawyer, Max Braffett. Working basically as a strikebreaker, Maxwell played a prominent role in keeping miners under control in Pleasant Valley. Many coal miners detested Maxwell because he backed the mining company. Another stroke of bad luck plagued Maxwell after his release from prison. His wife left him, and she took their daughter with her. Maxwell drifted to Goldfield, Nev., after the coal strike in Carbon County ended. In Goldfield, Gunplay became a deputy sheriff, using the alias of Thomas Bliss. During a 1907 murder trial, Gunplay served as a prosecution witness favorable to a mining company. His false testimony helped convict two men named Preston and Smith of killing a man whose business was being boycotted by the mining union. A defense witness named Edward Johnson had met Maxwell in Utah soon after Gunplay's release from prison. Johnson tried to discredit Deputy Bliss' testimony by revealing that he was really Gunplay Maxwell, a former member of the Wild Bunch. Despite Johnson's damaging testimony, Maxwell remained a deputy in Goldfield for a short period of time after the trial ended. Gunplay held a grudge against Johnson for the rest of his life. The two would meet again....
Cowgirls lasso rodeo spotlight Ribbon roping might sound like a knitting technique taught at an arts and crafts fair. But there’s absolutely nothing dainty about it. Ribbon roping was one of the main events at Saturday’s Women’s Ranch Rodeo Assn.’s Qualifying Rodeo at Stinson Creek Cattle Co. near Stull. At the rodeo, 11 four-woman teams competed to earn a spot at the National Finals October 22 at Kemper Arena. Events included calf branding, sorting, trailer loading and doctoring. Ranch rodeos are different from other rodeos because the events are based on things ranchers would actually do on the job, like rounding up cattle. Because ranchers wouldn’t usually ride around on bucking bulls, bullriding isn’t a ranch rodeo event. Ten years ago, all-female ranch rodeos were scarce. But today they’re more popular than ever, said Terri Lewis, a rodeo competitor on the Division Ranch team from Strong City....
Local cowboys keep doggies rolling along Local residents Ray Herrera and Alan Richards got the opportunity to be time travelers two weeks ago as they helped drive a herd of 382 longhorn steers and assorted other bovine 72 miles to the Reno Rodeo grounds. The drive, an annual event, helps raise money for the rodeo by charging interested people a fee to participate in the five-day drive that starts in Doyle and crosses the Nevada desert on its way to the Oddie Boulevard Livestock Events Center for the nine-day rodeo. "This was something I always dreamed about doing," Herrera said. "I grew up in ranching, but I never went on a long cattle drive." Herrera and Richards won the chance to sample a bit of the Old West by registering winning bids at the rodeo's fundraiser Rhythm and Rawhide last spring. For Herrera, the experience allowed him to pay homage to his rancher father who passed away last year. "I took his hot roll (bedding) on the drive," Herrera said. "It still smelled like him. It was like having him with me."....
Monday, June 26, 2006
Sunday, June 25, 2006
SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE WESTERNER
Old Ranchers
by Larry Gabriel
Some people think the "Old West" is a bygone era. They are wrong. All the best of it lives in the hearts of people like Wayne Hage and his wife Helen Chenoweth-Hage.
Never heard of them? Wayne is the Nevada rancher who fought the federal government over water rights on his ranch for more than twenty years. Helen is a former Idaho Congresswoman who married Wayne in 1999.
The whole thing started back in 1978 when Wayne found and bought the ranch of his dreams. As it turned out, some federal officials were dreaming of the same place and wanted it for a park or wilderness area.
Wayne owned the place only about two months before federal officers tried to "buy" it for about half of what he paid. Maybe there are people dumb or scared enough to take such an offer, but not in the West. The fight was on.
Most of what Wayne bought was vested water rights and related improvements on leased federal lands surrounding his private tract of 7,000 acres. All the government wanted to pay for was his deeded acres.
They figured they could get the rest away from him without paying for it. The federal officers proceeded to make life difficult for him and even filed competing water rights claims. They were wrong about water rights.
Water rights are traditionally established by state law and governed by state law. They could take away his lease by simply not renewing it, but the water rights and related improvements were property, under state law.
However, in the process of proving that (over the course of ten years of legal battles), Wayne was forced to sell his herd.
In one sense, you could say the government officials won. They outlived Wayne and they put him out of business, but they didn't win. If you do an internet search on Wayne's name, you will find it on 199,000 pages. Many of the leaders of the states' rights and property rights organizations of America knew him personally.
A person from the East once asked, "Why is it that only the Western States fundamentally grasp the concept of states' rights?" The reason we understand is simple. Everyday we look at a mountain, a valley, a field or stream and know who gives us our rights. We also know that Congress has only the rights we choose to give them and no others.
States' rights and property rights are everything. They are the foundation of our nation and we still understand and respect that foundation. We also know that anyone has only the rights for which they are willing to fight. The rest is just paper.
As Wayne said, "Either you have a right to own property, or you are property."
Wayne is not gone. Old ranchers never really die. They just go to seed. New life will spring from the seeds he planted.
Mr. Gabriel is the South Dakota Secretary of Agriculture
Varmints need water too; the fuzzy, feathered, or two-legged variety
By Julie Carter
It's dry, it's a drought and yes, it seems to be getting worse. Now we are setting "drought" records. Not the kind of record to make anyone very proud.
The hot winds blow every afternoon and take away any clouds that might want to ponder in the sky. It moves them across the state so possibly it rains somewhere.
The humidity levels are ranging in the single digits to low teens that's the "dry heat" we hear folks talk about.
Wells and springs that have served ranchers for generations are coughing, choking, and sputtering with a death rattle warning of catastrophic consequences. You can feed livestock when you are out of grass but out of water means out of business.
If you ever once thought the ranchers were not tending to the wildlife during the day to day business of caring for livestock, a drought drives that point home hard. Usually the only water available in the majority of the local ranch country is water pumped to the surface by a rancher. All forms of wildlife have moved to the water holes.
The fenced highways have become a death trap for the antelope who find the only green food to eat to be in the right-of-ways.
Pastures along an 80-mile route that I drive every week have noticeably no grass, few if any cattle and an unusual number of highway casualty antelope carcasses providing buzzard feed. It is a "blight" staring every driver in the face.
In three consecutive days I've had close encounters in my yard with varmints I would just as soon not meet in the dark. A snake, family of raccoons and a skunk not that any one of those is unusual but so many in a row so close together isn't the norm.
The antelope have brazenly become part of a mowing operation on the perimeter of the yard. They are hungry enough that they barely look up as I step out the door and leave only if I head out the gate.
I drove to White Oaks today to do an interview for a story. For those of you that are not from around here, White Oaks is tiny old-west town that should have died after the mining boom of the 1880's and didn't. Going to White Oaks is a 125-year step back in time where you might tie your horse to a hitchin' rail but don't plan on filling up with gasoline or buying a burger anywhere and the folks that live there hope to keep it that way.
It was the middle of the day, middle of the week. But the White Oaks watering hole, also known as the No Scum Allowed Saloon, had a full-parking lineup in front and the bar stools, and possibly the patrons, were loaded.
Two-legged varmints and other folks of genteel persuasion—known as tourists—found shade and liquid refreshment while they waited for the ghosts of famous Lincoln County lawmen, gunfighters and cattlemen to drop by.
There are a lot of good folks looking upward these days. They look up with hope for a cloud and they look up to pray. Those same folks wear long tired faces of worry while they stay awake nights trying to figure out how to outlast the drought.
They know two things for certain. Today, although it didn't rain, is one day closer to the day it will. And when it does, it will be needed.
© Julie Carter 2006
The cowboy’s lesson in fine wine
By Julie Carter
A pretty girl will stop a cowboy in his tracks every time. He will then do and say things he would have taken bets against if you had asked him prior to the pretty girl. This story is one of those times.
Ron was a good cowboy working for a good rancher with plenty of New Mexico country to tend. He was also aware this man had a daughter in an Ivy League college somewhere in the direction of “back East.”
Winter had passed, heifers were about done calving, brandings were on the horizon and summer would soon be here. Life was good.
Then this cowboy’s world turned upside down when Pretty Girl came home for Spring Break.
The celebratory barbeque at the ranch gave Ron a little time to visit with Pretty Girl and he knew right-off she was way out of his social league as she chatted about opera, Broadway openings and formal dinner parties. The closest he could hope for was to hold his own at wine tasting. How hard could it be?
Like most cowboys, Ron liked to help the Colorado folks out with their brewery success and occasionally tried to help out the Kentucky folks with their sour mash business. He knew he was going to have to get some schooling on the finer points of wine tasting.
Cowboys are experts at many things, capable of hard work with cattle, horses, fences, and equipment as well as making the hard business decisions required for a modern ranching operation. What they don’t know, they aren’t afraid to ask from someone who has a few more years and little more experience.
After conferring with a few of the hands in the bunkhouse that night, it was the general consensus an expert was required. Their collective thoughts pointed in the direction of the windmill man who was known to be able to fix anything and tell you a little but about just about everything.
In a phone call to this recommended universal expert, Ron was briefed on vintage, bouquet, body, sediment and all the various attributes of fine wine. The windmill man spoke with such knowledge and authority, the cowboy was duly impressed. He gave a brief pause of curious thought as to where this windmill man might have gotten his knowledge, but was in no position to question it.
It was clear his plan would be to invite Pretty Girl to share a little wine with him next time she was home.
Back to work he went, taking more notice than ever of the possibilities of the ranch. In his daydreams he envisioned Pretty Girl bringing him his supper after a hard day’s work on the ranch he had married. By the time she actually came home again, he was in love.
It was summer and the cowboy invited her on a picnic to a pretty spot on the ranch with wine to be the main feature. They set a date and time and the cowboy whistled his way through his work for several days.
As will happen at a ranch, things didn’t go as planned. He was down to choosing between a trip to town to get the wine or helping a late calving heifer through her ordeal. In a bind, he called the windmill man who agreed to bring him some wine in plenty of time for the big date.
Shined up, washed behind the ears and everything, Ron picked the girl up at the boss’s house and headed down the road to the spot on the creek he liked best. They talked and laughed and the afternoon progressed about as smoothly as he could have hoped.
He might have actually realized his dream of capturing Pretty Girl and the ranch -- if only the windmill man had thought to buy wine in bottle instead of a box.
© Julie Carter 2006
Independence Day
by Larry Gabriel
We celebrate it every year with parades, rodeos, picnics and fireworks, just as John Adams predicted in a letter to his wife on July 3, 1776. But, do we really know what we celebrate?
The dictionary says "independence" is a condition of being "independent". The word "independent" has several meanings.
Independent means "self governing", or being "free from the influence, guidance or control" of others. I suspect many of us think of independence as freedom from control. It is part of the rugged individualism concept. It is tied in with self reliance.
All those ideas about independence may be worthy, but that is not what the founding fathers had in mind when they finally finished debating a resolution placed before them by Richard H. Lee of Virginia on June 7, 1776.
This is what it said…Resolved, That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.
Actually, most had made up their minds by June 11th, when the Continental Congress appointed a committee of five to draft a declaration of independence. The declaration was presented to them on June 28th. On July 2nd, they secretly approved and signed it.
On July 4th they published it to the people. They declared the sovereignty of their states and rang the liberty bell that day. They were not celebrating individual independence, because as Benjamin Franklin noted, "We must hang together, gentlemen...else, we shall most assuredly hang separately…"
What we celebrate is not independence itself. We celebrate the fact that 56 American forefathers had the courage to put their names on a declaration and announce it to the world, even when doing so was likely to cost them their fortunes, families and lives. We celebrate their courage.
This is what Adams predicted…The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward for evermore.
How do we honor Adam's request that their act be celebrated, commemorated and solemnized? How does one honor such a gift that evolved into the freedoms and bounty we enjoy?
We can be thankful to all the Americans who gave their lives for our liberty from that day to this. We also can emulate them by never allowing fear to take away that gift.
Old Ranchers
by Larry Gabriel
Some people think the "Old West" is a bygone era. They are wrong. All the best of it lives in the hearts of people like Wayne Hage and his wife Helen Chenoweth-Hage.
Never heard of them? Wayne is the Nevada rancher who fought the federal government over water rights on his ranch for more than twenty years. Helen is a former Idaho Congresswoman who married Wayne in 1999.
The whole thing started back in 1978 when Wayne found and bought the ranch of his dreams. As it turned out, some federal officials were dreaming of the same place and wanted it for a park or wilderness area.
Wayne owned the place only about two months before federal officers tried to "buy" it for about half of what he paid. Maybe there are people dumb or scared enough to take such an offer, but not in the West. The fight was on.
Most of what Wayne bought was vested water rights and related improvements on leased federal lands surrounding his private tract of 7,000 acres. All the government wanted to pay for was his deeded acres.
They figured they could get the rest away from him without paying for it. The federal officers proceeded to make life difficult for him and even filed competing water rights claims. They were wrong about water rights.
Water rights are traditionally established by state law and governed by state law. They could take away his lease by simply not renewing it, but the water rights and related improvements were property, under state law.
However, in the process of proving that (over the course of ten years of legal battles), Wayne was forced to sell his herd.
In one sense, you could say the government officials won. They outlived Wayne and they put him out of business, but they didn't win. If you do an internet search on Wayne's name, you will find it on 199,000 pages. Many of the leaders of the states' rights and property rights organizations of America knew him personally.
A person from the East once asked, "Why is it that only the Western States fundamentally grasp the concept of states' rights?" The reason we understand is simple. Everyday we look at a mountain, a valley, a field or stream and know who gives us our rights. We also know that Congress has only the rights we choose to give them and no others.
States' rights and property rights are everything. They are the foundation of our nation and we still understand and respect that foundation. We also know that anyone has only the rights for which they are willing to fight. The rest is just paper.
As Wayne said, "Either you have a right to own property, or you are property."
Wayne is not gone. Old ranchers never really die. They just go to seed. New life will spring from the seeds he planted.
Mr. Gabriel is the South Dakota Secretary of Agriculture
Varmints need water too; the fuzzy, feathered, or two-legged variety
By Julie Carter
It's dry, it's a drought and yes, it seems to be getting worse. Now we are setting "drought" records. Not the kind of record to make anyone very proud.
The hot winds blow every afternoon and take away any clouds that might want to ponder in the sky. It moves them across the state so possibly it rains somewhere.
The humidity levels are ranging in the single digits to low teens that's the "dry heat" we hear folks talk about.
Wells and springs that have served ranchers for generations are coughing, choking, and sputtering with a death rattle warning of catastrophic consequences. You can feed livestock when you are out of grass but out of water means out of business.
If you ever once thought the ranchers were not tending to the wildlife during the day to day business of caring for livestock, a drought drives that point home hard. Usually the only water available in the majority of the local ranch country is water pumped to the surface by a rancher. All forms of wildlife have moved to the water holes.
The fenced highways have become a death trap for the antelope who find the only green food to eat to be in the right-of-ways.
Pastures along an 80-mile route that I drive every week have noticeably no grass, few if any cattle and an unusual number of highway casualty antelope carcasses providing buzzard feed. It is a "blight" staring every driver in the face.
In three consecutive days I've had close encounters in my yard with varmints I would just as soon not meet in the dark. A snake, family of raccoons and a skunk not that any one of those is unusual but so many in a row so close together isn't the norm.
The antelope have brazenly become part of a mowing operation on the perimeter of the yard. They are hungry enough that they barely look up as I step out the door and leave only if I head out the gate.
I drove to White Oaks today to do an interview for a story. For those of you that are not from around here, White Oaks is tiny old-west town that should have died after the mining boom of the 1880's and didn't. Going to White Oaks is a 125-year step back in time where you might tie your horse to a hitchin' rail but don't plan on filling up with gasoline or buying a burger anywhere and the folks that live there hope to keep it that way.
It was the middle of the day, middle of the week. But the White Oaks watering hole, also known as the No Scum Allowed Saloon, had a full-parking lineup in front and the bar stools, and possibly the patrons, were loaded.
Two-legged varmints and other folks of genteel persuasion—known as tourists—found shade and liquid refreshment while they waited for the ghosts of famous Lincoln County lawmen, gunfighters and cattlemen to drop by.
There are a lot of good folks looking upward these days. They look up with hope for a cloud and they look up to pray. Those same folks wear long tired faces of worry while they stay awake nights trying to figure out how to outlast the drought.
They know two things for certain. Today, although it didn't rain, is one day closer to the day it will. And when it does, it will be needed.
© Julie Carter 2006
The cowboy’s lesson in fine wine
By Julie Carter
A pretty girl will stop a cowboy in his tracks every time. He will then do and say things he would have taken bets against if you had asked him prior to the pretty girl. This story is one of those times.
Ron was a good cowboy working for a good rancher with plenty of New Mexico country to tend. He was also aware this man had a daughter in an Ivy League college somewhere in the direction of “back East.”
Winter had passed, heifers were about done calving, brandings were on the horizon and summer would soon be here. Life was good.
Then this cowboy’s world turned upside down when Pretty Girl came home for Spring Break.
The celebratory barbeque at the ranch gave Ron a little time to visit with Pretty Girl and he knew right-off she was way out of his social league as she chatted about opera, Broadway openings and formal dinner parties. The closest he could hope for was to hold his own at wine tasting. How hard could it be?
Like most cowboys, Ron liked to help the Colorado folks out with their brewery success and occasionally tried to help out the Kentucky folks with their sour mash business. He knew he was going to have to get some schooling on the finer points of wine tasting.
Cowboys are experts at many things, capable of hard work with cattle, horses, fences, and equipment as well as making the hard business decisions required for a modern ranching operation. What they don’t know, they aren’t afraid to ask from someone who has a few more years and little more experience.
After conferring with a few of the hands in the bunkhouse that night, it was the general consensus an expert was required. Their collective thoughts pointed in the direction of the windmill man who was known to be able to fix anything and tell you a little but about just about everything.
In a phone call to this recommended universal expert, Ron was briefed on vintage, bouquet, body, sediment and all the various attributes of fine wine. The windmill man spoke with such knowledge and authority, the cowboy was duly impressed. He gave a brief pause of curious thought as to where this windmill man might have gotten his knowledge, but was in no position to question it.
It was clear his plan would be to invite Pretty Girl to share a little wine with him next time she was home.
Back to work he went, taking more notice than ever of the possibilities of the ranch. In his daydreams he envisioned Pretty Girl bringing him his supper after a hard day’s work on the ranch he had married. By the time she actually came home again, he was in love.
It was summer and the cowboy invited her on a picnic to a pretty spot on the ranch with wine to be the main feature. They set a date and time and the cowboy whistled his way through his work for several days.
As will happen at a ranch, things didn’t go as planned. He was down to choosing between a trip to town to get the wine or helping a late calving heifer through her ordeal. In a bind, he called the windmill man who agreed to bring him some wine in plenty of time for the big date.
Shined up, washed behind the ears and everything, Ron picked the girl up at the boss’s house and headed down the road to the spot on the creek he liked best. They talked and laughed and the afternoon progressed about as smoothly as he could have hoped.
He might have actually realized his dream of capturing Pretty Girl and the ranch -- if only the windmill man had thought to buy wine in bottle instead of a box.
© Julie Carter 2006
Independence Day
by Larry Gabriel
We celebrate it every year with parades, rodeos, picnics and fireworks, just as John Adams predicted in a letter to his wife on July 3, 1776. But, do we really know what we celebrate?
The dictionary says "independence" is a condition of being "independent". The word "independent" has several meanings.
Independent means "self governing", or being "free from the influence, guidance or control" of others. I suspect many of us think of independence as freedom from control. It is part of the rugged individualism concept. It is tied in with self reliance.
All those ideas about independence may be worthy, but that is not what the founding fathers had in mind when they finally finished debating a resolution placed before them by Richard H. Lee of Virginia on June 7, 1776.
This is what it said…Resolved, That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.
Actually, most had made up their minds by June 11th, when the Continental Congress appointed a committee of five to draft a declaration of independence. The declaration was presented to them on June 28th. On July 2nd, they secretly approved and signed it.
On July 4th they published it to the people. They declared the sovereignty of their states and rang the liberty bell that day. They were not celebrating individual independence, because as Benjamin Franklin noted, "We must hang together, gentlemen...else, we shall most assuredly hang separately…"
What we celebrate is not independence itself. We celebrate the fact that 56 American forefathers had the courage to put their names on a declaration and announce it to the world, even when doing so was likely to cost them their fortunes, families and lives. We celebrate their courage.
This is what Adams predicted…The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward for evermore.
How do we honor Adam's request that their act be celebrated, commemorated and solemnized? How does one honor such a gift that evolved into the freedoms and bounty we enjoy?
We can be thankful to all the Americans who gave their lives for our liberty from that day to this. We also can emulate them by never allowing fear to take away that gift.
Friday, June 23, 2006
NEWS
From campfire to gas tank, mesquite energy may be harnessed for ethanol The dense mesquite-covered mid-section of Texas could provide fuel for about 400 small ethanol plants, according to one Texas Agricultural Experiment Station researcher. Jim Ansley, Experiment Station rangeland researcher at Vernon, is determining the feasibility of developing a bio-energy industry in rural West Central Texas. The industry would be based on the harvest and use of rangeland woody plants, such as mesquite and red berry juniper, as an energy source. “We’ve had so much more interest in this since gas prices went up last summer,” Ansley said. “That’s going to be a real driving variable. If gas prices continue to go up, I think we could very well see a first generation refinery built in Texas to handle mesquite within five years.” The vision is to build as many as 400 refineries around the state based on mesquite wood. If other woods are considered, the number could go as high as 1,000, he said....
Many Endangered Species Making Remarkable Comebacks As their numbers plummet, jaguars, polar bears and leatherback sea turtles might have hope of survival in light of the success stories of some of their fellow creatures. Human activity threatens 99 percent of all species, according to the World Conservation Union (IUCN). Plants and animals are going extinct at a rate 1,000 to 10,000 times higher than what would occur naturally, some researchers say. One recent study concluded that a quarter of the world's plant and vertebrate animal species would face extinction by 2050. However, human conservation efforts are working to boost specific populations. The IUCN keeps watch over the world's biodiversity with its publication of its Red List every two years, meant to keep the public and policy makers aware of threatened plant and animal species. In the United States, the Endangered Species Act works to protect plants and animals from becoming extinct. On top of federal laws, individual states offer added protection and conservation mandates....
State recommends against listing prairie chicken After a six-year investigation of lesser prairie chicken populations and habitats, the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish announced June 9 in a press release that they will recommend against listing the species as threatened or endangered in the state. According to the results of the study posted on the NMDGF Web site, the number of chickens counted in leks, or breeding grounds, in New Mexico increased about 83 percent from 2001 through 2005. Dawn Davis, of the NMDGF and who participated in the study, said the increases are most likely due to the last two springs’ above average precipitation and more participation from private landowners in habitat improvement projects. She said the chicken populations are also naturally cyclic, and they tend to fluctuate about every 10 years....
Water fight The government may own the land, but does it own the water used by livestock? Despite years of discussion, the question remains unanswered in several disputes between ranchers and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management officials over water on public lands in Idaho. “It just makes sense for a landlord to seek the proper permits to ensure use on their property,” Bud Cribley, acting Idaho director of the BLM, recently told members of the Idaho Water Users Association at a convention in Sun Valley. Livestock producers don’t disagree that the BLM manages the land. They take issue, however, with the federal agency’s claims to water used by their cattle and sheep, said Craig Pridgen, who is an attorney with a Davis, Calif., firm and represents ranchers. “In fact, the most precious resource for a rancher on public lands is his water right,” Pridgen said....
Senators back own controversial trust-lands bill State senators voted Wednesday to put their own plan for managing trust lands on the November ballot — a measure that foes say is designed solely to confuse voters and defeat a more comprehensive proposal. The proposal requires the Legislature to set up procedures for setting aside up to 400,000 rural acres for conservation. And it would clarify that about 40,000 acres of urban land already earmarked for conservation could be sold to communities. But John Wright, president of the Arizona Education Association, said the measure's real purpose is to undermine a more comprehensive initiative backed by his organization, which could set aside 690,000 acres in urban and rural areas that already have been identified as off-limits to development. Wright said backers already have far more than the 183,917 signatures necessary to put the measure on the November ballot. He said they will be filed with the state next week. Sen. Jake Flake, R-Snowflake, a proponent of the legislative alternative, denied the aim is to cloud the issue. He said the lawmakers' plan, backed by ranchers and home builders, is better....
Fowl runoff spurs fierce poultry fight For Bill Berry, there's nothing sweet about the waters of Honey Creek. A 65-year-old cattle rancher, Berry said manure from chicken farms and a chicken processing plant upstream have fouled the stream that runs past his ranch. The water is so wretched, Berry said, that he no longer drinks from his well and has fenced off the stream so his cattle and grandchildren can't go near it. "When I was a kid growing up we'd throw dimes out in the stream and dive down and get them," Berry said. "You can't do that today. ... When the dogs won't drink out of the creek, you know there's something wrong." Berry is part of a bitter and expensive fight over poultry waste that has festered for a decade in this hilly region of eastern Oklahoma and has now migrated to Washington, where the livestock industry has considerable clout. Berry and others argue that the region's large poultry industry, which is primarily in northwest Arkansas, has generated so much chicken waste that it has seeped into waterways that flow into Oklahoma. But the poultry industry is fighting back. The industry is lobbying Congress - with the help of a firm headed by former Rep. Bob Livingston, R-La. - to exempt manure from being labeled a "hazardous substance" under the federal Superfund law. And it has created a group, Farmers for Clean Air and Water, to make its side of the story known....
Ranchers face Army expansion plan Steve Wooten drives his Ford pickup over red dirt roads that wind through his ranch near the Purgatoire River, careful to stay on the same old tracks because tire marks can last for decades in this dry corner of southeast Colorado. Near a towering rock outcropping, Wooten and his wife, Joy, point to ancient American Indian drawings of antelope and deer. Go up a handmade ladder to a deep pool of snowmelt and rainwater and you can see the name of explorer Kit Carson scratched into the rock. The couple is the fourth generation of the family to raise cattle on this 27,000-acre ranch. Steve Wooten's great-grandfather, an Irish immigrant, once boasted he had more land in New Mexico and Colorado than there was in Ireland. Maybe it wasn't enough: The Wootens and many of their neighbors fear the Army is about to change their lives forever with a sprawling expansion of the Piñon Canyon training site used by troops at Fort Carson. The post wants to expand Piñon Canyon by up to 418,000 acres, or 653 square miles, an area about two-thirds the size of Delaware....
Audubon Society restoring Palm City ranch to wetland Workers with the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service have spent more than a month and almost $500,000 restoring the former cattle ranch to the wetland it was before ranchers drained it. The property, part of 300 acres donated to Audubon in the 1980s, is one of a handful of sites protected and restored with funds from the Wetlands Reserve Program, which is geared toward restoring agricultural land, project manager Stephen Cox said. On Wednesday, bulldozers pushed dirt into ditches while piles of dead Brazilian pepper trees and other unwanted plants burned in the summer heat. Fields of dirt — where impenetrable thickets of exotic plants once stood — waited for rainfall. The cattle that grazed on the grassy fields were removed in Dec. 2004 in preparation of the restoration, Braun said....
Shear artisans For the past 80 years, four generations of Allisons have overseen the spring shearing at their 35,000-acre ranch among the rocky arroyos of Terrell County, 140 miles southwest of San Angelo, Texas. On his 61st birthday this year, Robert Allison made a dark prediction: "I don't believe we'll be shearing sheep here in 20 years." While he spoke in the shade of his great metal barn, six stocky Mexicans from south of Del Rio _ each with green cards identifying them as resident aliens _ zipped the heavy woolen fleeces from Allison's 500 Rambouillet ewes. Every four minutes, the shearers neatly delivered fine, heavy coats for shipment to a wool warehouse. Top hands can shear 100 sheep a day. The gray-haired Allison recalled younger days when 3,000 Angora goats would occupy shearers for three days or more. Historically, this region, known as Edward's Plateau, has furnished 90 percent of the nation's mohair and 20 percent of the nation's wool. "Today, we have no goats," he said, sadly. Allison's ranch might serve as a microcosm of the Texas sheep industry, which has led the nation for a century in wool and lamb production. A series of reversals, however, has plunged Texas' numbers from a peak of 10.8 million in 1943 to a mere 1 million today....
Tourism is double-edged sword for Montana, Wyoming agriculture Wyoming and Montana have much in common as far as agriculture goes. Wyoming producers raise sugar beets, wheat, alfalfa hay and barley, just as Montana producers. They also raise beans, sheep and cattle. The issues are much the same as well: water availability, land conservation, farm bill programs, animal identification, brucellosis, alternative fuels and tourism. Wyoming producers, like many Montana producers, worry about tourists returning to their state to purchase all the undeveloped land as recreational resorts and raising the land prices to the point where agriculturists cannot afford to them. Much to my dismay, I heard on the radio a ranch south of Cody is being purchased by an elite organization to serve as a recreational retreat for those with enough money to belong in the organization, paying somewhere in the millions for annual dues. While the sale probably means a lot to the owners of the ranch, I see another agriculture opportunity going down the drain; an opportunity some young rancher could have taken. Unfortunately, stories such as this are becoming more common than before....
Accused rustler turns self in; cows returned The Brazoria County Sheriff’s Department has arrested the man they believe stole about 290 head of cattle from pastures in eight counties, including 17 cows and 30 calves from Nolan Ryan’s China Grove Ranch in Rosharon. Jerome Heath Novak, 27, of Angleton was arrested Thursday morning and charged with one count of livestock theft. He was released from the Brazoria County jail after posting bail later that day. His bond was $5,000. Investigators said the Angleton-area rancher confessed to taking the cattle, valued at more than $250,000. A team, led by Investigator Jack Langdon of the sheriff’s department, received a break in the case last week when a calf with “unusual scars,” one of 10 calves reported stolen from Navasota, landed at a sale in Groesbeck and was recognized by an order-buyer, according to the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, whose special rangers helped during the nine-month investigation....
Pair convicted of altering brands A Fall River County jury on Friday convicted two Batesland men of altering brands on livestock. Walter Schultz Jr., 42, and Ronald Jensen, 67, were each convicted of three counts of misuse or alteration of a brand. Each count is a Class 5 felony punishable by a maximum of five years in prison and a $5,000 fine, according to Fall River County State's Attorney Lance Russell. The jury acquitted the two men of three other counts of misuse or alteration of brands. The jury met for 3-1/2 hours after a four-day trial presided over by 7th Circuit Judge Thomas Trimble. Jensen and Schultz were arrested in November 2004 after authorities searched Jensen's ranch between Wounded Knee and Batesland and found cattle with a neighboring rancher's brand. All of the calves had Schultz's and Jensen's brands, Russell said....
Smoking 'em out: Law officials try to stop modern-day cattle rustlers The truck raced like a phantom down the lonesome dirt road, poking its headlights into the pre-dawn darkness and spewing blinding clouds of dust. The deputy, who was watching nearby, smelled trouble. Todd Culp saw the mysterious truck barrel through a stop sign at 80 mph and wondered where it was rushing to at 5 a.m. The off-duty deputy gunned the engine of his unmarked green pickup in pursuit. Culp soon noticed the truck matched the description of one involved in a recent theft -- and it was hauling an animal trailer. Fifteen miles later, the driver stopped on the ramp of the Cimarron Turnpike. He jumped out. The deputy was right behind him. "Stop! Sheriff's Department. Get on the ground!" Culp barked, drawing his .45-caliber pistol. But the man ran to open the back doors of the trailer, disappeared on the side and began whooping and hollering. Out stumbled a half-dozen cows and one calf. It was, authorities say, an awkward -- and belated -- attempt to get rid of the evidence of a crime: cattle rustling. The era of dusty stagecoaches and wagon trains is long gone, but cattle thieves -- the bad guys in a thousand Westerns -- never quite rode off into the sunset. Rustlers are now a growing menace in some parts of rural America, striking in the dead of night and sometimes selling their haul before the rancher or farmer discovers the animals are gone....
Duvall comes full circle with 'Broken Trail' WE DON'T WANT to step on Superman's cape, but if the Man of Steel ever messed with Robert Duvall, our money would be on Duvall. With a twinkle in his eye and a snap in his banter, he'd charm the tights off the superhero. While most of us hope when we're 75 we can still get in the car and go to the grocery store, Duvall's out riding the range and getting the better of the bad guys. No one sits on a horse like Duvall. And no one embodies a Western hero like Duvall. "Maybe I'd have been a rancher," says Duvall, "if I hadn't been an actor." Good news for us all that he decided on the latter. Duvall's at the top of his game in AMC's first foray into original movies. The four-hour miniseries has Duvall portraying aging cowboy Print Ritter, who is out to set a few family wrongs right. As much a part of the story as the actors is the magnificent Canadian scenery shot outside Calgary — the same location for films including "Brokeback Mountain" and "Legends of the Fall." And the director is noted filmmaker Walter Hill, who did the pilot episode of "Deadwood." The production team boasts Emmy and Oscar winners, and the end product shows the polish, although it starts off a bit shaky....
Stetson still the hat of the American West Few icons are as American as the cowboy hat: grandiose, utilitarian and a trademark of the West. The king is still Stetson, the original cowboy hat, created almost 150 years ago. Philadelphia's John B. Stetson headed west in the 1860s for health reasons. He fashioned himself a big hat to protect him from rain, sun and wind which he dubbed the "Boss of the Plains." Praised for its utility, a Stetson could pull water from a stream, fan a campfire or even provide storage. Its earliest influence was likely the high-crown, wide-brim hat worn by Mongolian horsemen centuries ago. Spaniards wore similar head wear when they came to the New World with another indispensable cowboy accoutrement: the horse. Those hats eventually evolved into the Mexican sombrero. Though the Old West and open range are gone, Stetsons live on. Lots of manufacturers make cowboy hats, and the Stetson brand is even licensed around the world. But the only place that makes the authentic, handmade "Boss of the Plains" is a factory outside Dallas. Owned by RHE Hatco Inc. the factory originally made Resistol cowboy hats, a Texas contemporary to the Stetson. Some reports claim the plant is the largest hat factory in the world, but Stetson spokesman Matthew Ranch is quick to point out there's no quantifiable proof to that. The factory turns out around a million straw and felt hats a year including Stetsons, Resistols and Charlie One Horses....
From campfire to gas tank, mesquite energy may be harnessed for ethanol The dense mesquite-covered mid-section of Texas could provide fuel for about 400 small ethanol plants, according to one Texas Agricultural Experiment Station researcher. Jim Ansley, Experiment Station rangeland researcher at Vernon, is determining the feasibility of developing a bio-energy industry in rural West Central Texas. The industry would be based on the harvest and use of rangeland woody plants, such as mesquite and red berry juniper, as an energy source. “We’ve had so much more interest in this since gas prices went up last summer,” Ansley said. “That’s going to be a real driving variable. If gas prices continue to go up, I think we could very well see a first generation refinery built in Texas to handle mesquite within five years.” The vision is to build as many as 400 refineries around the state based on mesquite wood. If other woods are considered, the number could go as high as 1,000, he said....
Many Endangered Species Making Remarkable Comebacks As their numbers plummet, jaguars, polar bears and leatherback sea turtles might have hope of survival in light of the success stories of some of their fellow creatures. Human activity threatens 99 percent of all species, according to the World Conservation Union (IUCN). Plants and animals are going extinct at a rate 1,000 to 10,000 times higher than what would occur naturally, some researchers say. One recent study concluded that a quarter of the world's plant and vertebrate animal species would face extinction by 2050. However, human conservation efforts are working to boost specific populations. The IUCN keeps watch over the world's biodiversity with its publication of its Red List every two years, meant to keep the public and policy makers aware of threatened plant and animal species. In the United States, the Endangered Species Act works to protect plants and animals from becoming extinct. On top of federal laws, individual states offer added protection and conservation mandates....
State recommends against listing prairie chicken After a six-year investigation of lesser prairie chicken populations and habitats, the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish announced June 9 in a press release that they will recommend against listing the species as threatened or endangered in the state. According to the results of the study posted on the NMDGF Web site, the number of chickens counted in leks, or breeding grounds, in New Mexico increased about 83 percent from 2001 through 2005. Dawn Davis, of the NMDGF and who participated in the study, said the increases are most likely due to the last two springs’ above average precipitation and more participation from private landowners in habitat improvement projects. She said the chicken populations are also naturally cyclic, and they tend to fluctuate about every 10 years....
Water fight The government may own the land, but does it own the water used by livestock? Despite years of discussion, the question remains unanswered in several disputes between ranchers and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management officials over water on public lands in Idaho. “It just makes sense for a landlord to seek the proper permits to ensure use on their property,” Bud Cribley, acting Idaho director of the BLM, recently told members of the Idaho Water Users Association at a convention in Sun Valley. Livestock producers don’t disagree that the BLM manages the land. They take issue, however, with the federal agency’s claims to water used by their cattle and sheep, said Craig Pridgen, who is an attorney with a Davis, Calif., firm and represents ranchers. “In fact, the most precious resource for a rancher on public lands is his water right,” Pridgen said....
Senators back own controversial trust-lands bill State senators voted Wednesday to put their own plan for managing trust lands on the November ballot — a measure that foes say is designed solely to confuse voters and defeat a more comprehensive proposal. The proposal requires the Legislature to set up procedures for setting aside up to 400,000 rural acres for conservation. And it would clarify that about 40,000 acres of urban land already earmarked for conservation could be sold to communities. But John Wright, president of the Arizona Education Association, said the measure's real purpose is to undermine a more comprehensive initiative backed by his organization, which could set aside 690,000 acres in urban and rural areas that already have been identified as off-limits to development. Wright said backers already have far more than the 183,917 signatures necessary to put the measure on the November ballot. He said they will be filed with the state next week. Sen. Jake Flake, R-Snowflake, a proponent of the legislative alternative, denied the aim is to cloud the issue. He said the lawmakers' plan, backed by ranchers and home builders, is better....
Fowl runoff spurs fierce poultry fight For Bill Berry, there's nothing sweet about the waters of Honey Creek. A 65-year-old cattle rancher, Berry said manure from chicken farms and a chicken processing plant upstream have fouled the stream that runs past his ranch. The water is so wretched, Berry said, that he no longer drinks from his well and has fenced off the stream so his cattle and grandchildren can't go near it. "When I was a kid growing up we'd throw dimes out in the stream and dive down and get them," Berry said. "You can't do that today. ... When the dogs won't drink out of the creek, you know there's something wrong." Berry is part of a bitter and expensive fight over poultry waste that has festered for a decade in this hilly region of eastern Oklahoma and has now migrated to Washington, where the livestock industry has considerable clout. Berry and others argue that the region's large poultry industry, which is primarily in northwest Arkansas, has generated so much chicken waste that it has seeped into waterways that flow into Oklahoma. But the poultry industry is fighting back. The industry is lobbying Congress - with the help of a firm headed by former Rep. Bob Livingston, R-La. - to exempt manure from being labeled a "hazardous substance" under the federal Superfund law. And it has created a group, Farmers for Clean Air and Water, to make its side of the story known....
Ranchers face Army expansion plan Steve Wooten drives his Ford pickup over red dirt roads that wind through his ranch near the Purgatoire River, careful to stay on the same old tracks because tire marks can last for decades in this dry corner of southeast Colorado. Near a towering rock outcropping, Wooten and his wife, Joy, point to ancient American Indian drawings of antelope and deer. Go up a handmade ladder to a deep pool of snowmelt and rainwater and you can see the name of explorer Kit Carson scratched into the rock. The couple is the fourth generation of the family to raise cattle on this 27,000-acre ranch. Steve Wooten's great-grandfather, an Irish immigrant, once boasted he had more land in New Mexico and Colorado than there was in Ireland. Maybe it wasn't enough: The Wootens and many of their neighbors fear the Army is about to change their lives forever with a sprawling expansion of the Piñon Canyon training site used by troops at Fort Carson. The post wants to expand Piñon Canyon by up to 418,000 acres, or 653 square miles, an area about two-thirds the size of Delaware....
Audubon Society restoring Palm City ranch to wetland Workers with the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service have spent more than a month and almost $500,000 restoring the former cattle ranch to the wetland it was before ranchers drained it. The property, part of 300 acres donated to Audubon in the 1980s, is one of a handful of sites protected and restored with funds from the Wetlands Reserve Program, which is geared toward restoring agricultural land, project manager Stephen Cox said. On Wednesday, bulldozers pushed dirt into ditches while piles of dead Brazilian pepper trees and other unwanted plants burned in the summer heat. Fields of dirt — where impenetrable thickets of exotic plants once stood — waited for rainfall. The cattle that grazed on the grassy fields were removed in Dec. 2004 in preparation of the restoration, Braun said....
Shear artisans For the past 80 years, four generations of Allisons have overseen the spring shearing at their 35,000-acre ranch among the rocky arroyos of Terrell County, 140 miles southwest of San Angelo, Texas. On his 61st birthday this year, Robert Allison made a dark prediction: "I don't believe we'll be shearing sheep here in 20 years." While he spoke in the shade of his great metal barn, six stocky Mexicans from south of Del Rio _ each with green cards identifying them as resident aliens _ zipped the heavy woolen fleeces from Allison's 500 Rambouillet ewes. Every four minutes, the shearers neatly delivered fine, heavy coats for shipment to a wool warehouse. Top hands can shear 100 sheep a day. The gray-haired Allison recalled younger days when 3,000 Angora goats would occupy shearers for three days or more. Historically, this region, known as Edward's Plateau, has furnished 90 percent of the nation's mohair and 20 percent of the nation's wool. "Today, we have no goats," he said, sadly. Allison's ranch might serve as a microcosm of the Texas sheep industry, which has led the nation for a century in wool and lamb production. A series of reversals, however, has plunged Texas' numbers from a peak of 10.8 million in 1943 to a mere 1 million today....
Tourism is double-edged sword for Montana, Wyoming agriculture Wyoming and Montana have much in common as far as agriculture goes. Wyoming producers raise sugar beets, wheat, alfalfa hay and barley, just as Montana producers. They also raise beans, sheep and cattle. The issues are much the same as well: water availability, land conservation, farm bill programs, animal identification, brucellosis, alternative fuels and tourism. Wyoming producers, like many Montana producers, worry about tourists returning to their state to purchase all the undeveloped land as recreational resorts and raising the land prices to the point where agriculturists cannot afford to them. Much to my dismay, I heard on the radio a ranch south of Cody is being purchased by an elite organization to serve as a recreational retreat for those with enough money to belong in the organization, paying somewhere in the millions for annual dues. While the sale probably means a lot to the owners of the ranch, I see another agriculture opportunity going down the drain; an opportunity some young rancher could have taken. Unfortunately, stories such as this are becoming more common than before....
Accused rustler turns self in; cows returned The Brazoria County Sheriff’s Department has arrested the man they believe stole about 290 head of cattle from pastures in eight counties, including 17 cows and 30 calves from Nolan Ryan’s China Grove Ranch in Rosharon. Jerome Heath Novak, 27, of Angleton was arrested Thursday morning and charged with one count of livestock theft. He was released from the Brazoria County jail after posting bail later that day. His bond was $5,000. Investigators said the Angleton-area rancher confessed to taking the cattle, valued at more than $250,000. A team, led by Investigator Jack Langdon of the sheriff’s department, received a break in the case last week when a calf with “unusual scars,” one of 10 calves reported stolen from Navasota, landed at a sale in Groesbeck and was recognized by an order-buyer, according to the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, whose special rangers helped during the nine-month investigation....
Pair convicted of altering brands A Fall River County jury on Friday convicted two Batesland men of altering brands on livestock. Walter Schultz Jr., 42, and Ronald Jensen, 67, were each convicted of three counts of misuse or alteration of a brand. Each count is a Class 5 felony punishable by a maximum of five years in prison and a $5,000 fine, according to Fall River County State's Attorney Lance Russell. The jury acquitted the two men of three other counts of misuse or alteration of brands. The jury met for 3-1/2 hours after a four-day trial presided over by 7th Circuit Judge Thomas Trimble. Jensen and Schultz were arrested in November 2004 after authorities searched Jensen's ranch between Wounded Knee and Batesland and found cattle with a neighboring rancher's brand. All of the calves had Schultz's and Jensen's brands, Russell said....
Smoking 'em out: Law officials try to stop modern-day cattle rustlers The truck raced like a phantom down the lonesome dirt road, poking its headlights into the pre-dawn darkness and spewing blinding clouds of dust. The deputy, who was watching nearby, smelled trouble. Todd Culp saw the mysterious truck barrel through a stop sign at 80 mph and wondered where it was rushing to at 5 a.m. The off-duty deputy gunned the engine of his unmarked green pickup in pursuit. Culp soon noticed the truck matched the description of one involved in a recent theft -- and it was hauling an animal trailer. Fifteen miles later, the driver stopped on the ramp of the Cimarron Turnpike. He jumped out. The deputy was right behind him. "Stop! Sheriff's Department. Get on the ground!" Culp barked, drawing his .45-caliber pistol. But the man ran to open the back doors of the trailer, disappeared on the side and began whooping and hollering. Out stumbled a half-dozen cows and one calf. It was, authorities say, an awkward -- and belated -- attempt to get rid of the evidence of a crime: cattle rustling. The era of dusty stagecoaches and wagon trains is long gone, but cattle thieves -- the bad guys in a thousand Westerns -- never quite rode off into the sunset. Rustlers are now a growing menace in some parts of rural America, striking in the dead of night and sometimes selling their haul before the rancher or farmer discovers the animals are gone....
Duvall comes full circle with 'Broken Trail' WE DON'T WANT to step on Superman's cape, but if the Man of Steel ever messed with Robert Duvall, our money would be on Duvall. With a twinkle in his eye and a snap in his banter, he'd charm the tights off the superhero. While most of us hope when we're 75 we can still get in the car and go to the grocery store, Duvall's out riding the range and getting the better of the bad guys. No one sits on a horse like Duvall. And no one embodies a Western hero like Duvall. "Maybe I'd have been a rancher," says Duvall, "if I hadn't been an actor." Good news for us all that he decided on the latter. Duvall's at the top of his game in AMC's first foray into original movies. The four-hour miniseries has Duvall portraying aging cowboy Print Ritter, who is out to set a few family wrongs right. As much a part of the story as the actors is the magnificent Canadian scenery shot outside Calgary — the same location for films including "Brokeback Mountain" and "Legends of the Fall." And the director is noted filmmaker Walter Hill, who did the pilot episode of "Deadwood." The production team boasts Emmy and Oscar winners, and the end product shows the polish, although it starts off a bit shaky....
Stetson still the hat of the American West Few icons are as American as the cowboy hat: grandiose, utilitarian and a trademark of the West. The king is still Stetson, the original cowboy hat, created almost 150 years ago. Philadelphia's John B. Stetson headed west in the 1860s for health reasons. He fashioned himself a big hat to protect him from rain, sun and wind which he dubbed the "Boss of the Plains." Praised for its utility, a Stetson could pull water from a stream, fan a campfire or even provide storage. Its earliest influence was likely the high-crown, wide-brim hat worn by Mongolian horsemen centuries ago. Spaniards wore similar head wear when they came to the New World with another indispensable cowboy accoutrement: the horse. Those hats eventually evolved into the Mexican sombrero. Though the Old West and open range are gone, Stetsons live on. Lots of manufacturers make cowboy hats, and the Stetson brand is even licensed around the world. But the only place that makes the authentic, handmade "Boss of the Plains" is a factory outside Dallas. Owned by RHE Hatco Inc. the factory originally made Resistol cowboy hats, a Texas contemporary to the Stetson. Some reports claim the plant is the largest hat factory in the world, but Stetson spokesman Matthew Ranch is quick to point out there's no quantifiable proof to that. The factory turns out around a million straw and felt hats a year including Stetsons, Resistols and Charlie One Horses....
Thursday, June 22, 2006
MAD COW DISEASE
Study Suggests More Deaths From Mad Cow Disease
The long lives that some former cannibals enjoy before succumbing to a brain-wasting disease suggest that many more humans will eventually die of mad cow disease, scientists said Thursday. But several experts in such illnesses, called prion diseases — which are blamed for killing New Guinea cannibals and British eaters of infected beef — disagreed with that frightening implication of the study, which is to be published Friday in The Lancet, a British medical journal. These experts praised the rigorous work the authors of the report did to confirm that kuru, a disease that once decimated highland tribes in New Guinea, can incubate for 50 years in a few genetically protected people. But the experts said they thought that the findings did not prove that there would be future waves of deaths among people who ate beef from prion-infected cows in the 1980's. "That's a provocative conclusion, but I'm not sure it's totally plausible," said Dr. David Westaway, a prion expert at the University of Toronto. Thus far, only about 160 people, mostly in Britain, have died of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which humans get from cows that had bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease. The authors chronicled the deaths and genetic makeup of 11 aging members of the Fore tribe who died from 1996 to 2004 of kuru, which can lie dormant for years but then start a quick, irreversible descent into dementia and death. Kuru killed thousands of Fore beginning in the 1920's and only began to fade after the Australian authorities in the 1950's outlawed the Fore practice of honoring their dead by butchering them with bamboo knives at mortuary feasts, eating them and — by some accounts — smearing themselves with brain tissue, which would drive infection into cuts and scratches....
Second "Mad Cow" Human Case Detected in Netherlands
A second case of the human variant of mad cow disease has been detected in the Netherlands, the National Institute for Public Health said on Thursday. The patient is thought to have contracted the brain wasting Creutzfeldt-Jakob (vCJD) disease by eating meat from the same infected batch of beef as the Utrecht woman who died last year. The 26-year-old woman from Utrecht was the first person diagnosed with the human form of the BSE (Mad Cow Disease) in the Netherlands. Experts believe the Utrecht woman contracted the disease 20 years ago by eating infected beef. The disease vCJD is characterized by the sponge-like degeneration of the victim's brain, but it is also difficult to diagnose. It can take years for a diagnosis to be made. Doctors are powerless to reverse the illness and can only help ease the patient's pain. A person with vCJD usually dies within 18 months....
Punish Japan if won't buy US beef: Senate panel
The United States should impose economic sanctions on Japan if it fails to put aside its fears of mad cow disease and open its borders to U.S. beef by the end of the summer, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted on Thursday. Committee members added the nonbinding language to a fiscal 2007 agricultural funding bill that might be debated in the Senate at the same time Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visits the White House. "I hope he takes heed of this," said Montana Republican Conrad Burns, sponsor of the "sense of the Senate" language. Burns said a U.S.-Japan agreement on Wednesday on steps to restart trade was just "another stalling tactic" to stretch out Japan's ban on U.S. beef, imposed as a precaution against mad cow disease. Japan, the longtime No. 1 importer of U.S. beef, has barred trade for 28 of the past 29 months. U.S. cattle groups are losing faith in negotiations with Japan. The National Cattlemen's Beef Association said this week's agreement had few concrete steps and no date for opening trade. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns "does not support sanctions," said a spokeswoman, but "he fully understands the frustration among members of Congress."....
Feed shipped to Kentucky recalled over possible mad cow violation
Livestock feed ingredients shipped to Kentucky and eight other states may have been contaminated with cattle remains in violation of a 1997 ban to protect against mad cow disease, a manufacturer said Tuesday. H.J. Baker & Bro. Inc. said it was recalling three livestock feed ingredients, including two used to supplement feed given to dairy cows. A sample tested by the Food and Drug Administration was positive for cattle meat and bone meal, said Mark Hohnbaum, president of the Westport, Conn.-based company’s feed products group. Mad cow disease is only known to spread when cows eat feed containing brain and other nerve tissue from infected cattle. Protein from cattle was commonly added to cattle feed to speed growth until the ban largely outlawed the practice. Cattle tissue may have contaminated two feed ingredients given to dairy cows — Pro-Lak and Pro-Amino II — made by H.J. Baker between August 2005 and June. The third of the recalled ingredients, Pro-Pak with Porcine Meat and Bone, was mislabeled. It is used in poultry feed. The company announced the recall in the wake of ongoing FDA inspections of its Albertville, Ala. plant, Hohnbaum said. The inspections have found manufacturing and clerical issues, he added. Besides Kentucky, the company shipped the ingredients to feed manufacturers and dairy farms in Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi and Tennessee. The company is notifying its customers of the voluntary recall. It does not know how much of the feed ingredients it sold, Hohnbaum said....
Study Suggests More Deaths From Mad Cow Disease
The long lives that some former cannibals enjoy before succumbing to a brain-wasting disease suggest that many more humans will eventually die of mad cow disease, scientists said Thursday. But several experts in such illnesses, called prion diseases — which are blamed for killing New Guinea cannibals and British eaters of infected beef — disagreed with that frightening implication of the study, which is to be published Friday in The Lancet, a British medical journal. These experts praised the rigorous work the authors of the report did to confirm that kuru, a disease that once decimated highland tribes in New Guinea, can incubate for 50 years in a few genetically protected people. But the experts said they thought that the findings did not prove that there would be future waves of deaths among people who ate beef from prion-infected cows in the 1980's. "That's a provocative conclusion, but I'm not sure it's totally plausible," said Dr. David Westaway, a prion expert at the University of Toronto. Thus far, only about 160 people, mostly in Britain, have died of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which humans get from cows that had bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease. The authors chronicled the deaths and genetic makeup of 11 aging members of the Fore tribe who died from 1996 to 2004 of kuru, which can lie dormant for years but then start a quick, irreversible descent into dementia and death. Kuru killed thousands of Fore beginning in the 1920's and only began to fade after the Australian authorities in the 1950's outlawed the Fore practice of honoring their dead by butchering them with bamboo knives at mortuary feasts, eating them and — by some accounts — smearing themselves with brain tissue, which would drive infection into cuts and scratches....
Second "Mad Cow" Human Case Detected in Netherlands
A second case of the human variant of mad cow disease has been detected in the Netherlands, the National Institute for Public Health said on Thursday. The patient is thought to have contracted the brain wasting Creutzfeldt-Jakob (vCJD) disease by eating meat from the same infected batch of beef as the Utrecht woman who died last year. The 26-year-old woman from Utrecht was the first person diagnosed with the human form of the BSE (Mad Cow Disease) in the Netherlands. Experts believe the Utrecht woman contracted the disease 20 years ago by eating infected beef. The disease vCJD is characterized by the sponge-like degeneration of the victim's brain, but it is also difficult to diagnose. It can take years for a diagnosis to be made. Doctors are powerless to reverse the illness and can only help ease the patient's pain. A person with vCJD usually dies within 18 months....
Punish Japan if won't buy US beef: Senate panel
The United States should impose economic sanctions on Japan if it fails to put aside its fears of mad cow disease and open its borders to U.S. beef by the end of the summer, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted on Thursday. Committee members added the nonbinding language to a fiscal 2007 agricultural funding bill that might be debated in the Senate at the same time Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visits the White House. "I hope he takes heed of this," said Montana Republican Conrad Burns, sponsor of the "sense of the Senate" language. Burns said a U.S.-Japan agreement on Wednesday on steps to restart trade was just "another stalling tactic" to stretch out Japan's ban on U.S. beef, imposed as a precaution against mad cow disease. Japan, the longtime No. 1 importer of U.S. beef, has barred trade for 28 of the past 29 months. U.S. cattle groups are losing faith in negotiations with Japan. The National Cattlemen's Beef Association said this week's agreement had few concrete steps and no date for opening trade. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns "does not support sanctions," said a spokeswoman, but "he fully understands the frustration among members of Congress."....
Feed shipped to Kentucky recalled over possible mad cow violation
Livestock feed ingredients shipped to Kentucky and eight other states may have been contaminated with cattle remains in violation of a 1997 ban to protect against mad cow disease, a manufacturer said Tuesday. H.J. Baker & Bro. Inc. said it was recalling three livestock feed ingredients, including two used to supplement feed given to dairy cows. A sample tested by the Food and Drug Administration was positive for cattle meat and bone meal, said Mark Hohnbaum, president of the Westport, Conn.-based company’s feed products group. Mad cow disease is only known to spread when cows eat feed containing brain and other nerve tissue from infected cattle. Protein from cattle was commonly added to cattle feed to speed growth until the ban largely outlawed the practice. Cattle tissue may have contaminated two feed ingredients given to dairy cows — Pro-Lak and Pro-Amino II — made by H.J. Baker between August 2005 and June. The third of the recalled ingredients, Pro-Pak with Porcine Meat and Bone, was mislabeled. It is used in poultry feed. The company announced the recall in the wake of ongoing FDA inspections of its Albertville, Ala. plant, Hohnbaum said. The inspections have found manufacturing and clerical issues, he added. Besides Kentucky, the company shipped the ingredients to feed manufacturers and dairy farms in Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi and Tennessee. The company is notifying its customers of the voluntary recall. It does not know how much of the feed ingredients it sold, Hohnbaum said....
EMINENT DOMAIN
Lost Liberty Hotel Gets Second Wind An undisclosed New Hampshire town is considering applying the Supreme Court's "Kelo vs. City of New London" decision on those justices who voted for it on the one year anniversary of the ruling. The Lost Liberty Airport is the latest project by Logan Darrow Clements to fight eminent domain abuse. It arrives on the June 23 anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that set loose a wave of home and land seizures across America. A Selectman for the town that is considering the proposal said, "The Supreme Court's Kelo decision was abhorrent. We are slowly losing our individual rights through bad legislation and a misguided judiciary. Perhaps the only way we can stop this trend is to have the people who create and sustain these laws live under them. That's why I as a Selectman in a New Hampshire town will do my best to get my town to support and carry out the plan for the Lost Liberty Airport." According to the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in "Kelo vs. City of New London" a government may use eminent domain to seize homes and land to promote economic development or increase tax revenue. Meanwhile, New Hampshire statute XXXIX chapter 423 allows a town to seize land for an airport outside its border. Since this statute does not require the land to be adjacent territory any town in New Hampshire could seize land inside any other town. Thus any town in New Hampshire could seize David Souter's land in Weare, N.H. or Stephen Breyer's land in Plainfield, N.H. for the creation of an airport. Both Souter and Breyer voted in favor of the Kelo ruling. The airports will be operated by a victim of eminent domain abuse. Thor Solberg owns a private airport in Readington, N.J., which could soon be taken by eminent domain using the logic of the Kelo ruling. On May 16, 2006 the voters of Readington approved a bond authorizing the acquisition of Thor's land. Solberg's Airport, which was built by his father, hosts one of the largest hot air balloon festivals on the East Coast. Said Solberg before the vote, "If the government takes my airport by eminent domain I am ready, willing and able to run the Lost Liberty Airports in New Hampshire....
Kelo: One Year Later Friday marks the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court's Kelo vs. New London decision, which gave cities a green light to seize private homes and businesses for the sole purpose of generating higher tax revenues through redevelopment. On the surface, this would appear to be a significant defeat to those who advocate for stronger protection of private property rights. Yet, the Kelo decision was actually one of the best things that ever happened to the national property rights movement, as it clearly imprinted the precarious nature of private property rights in the public consciousness and has inspired significant reforms nationwide. So where does the national property rights movement stand a year after Kelo? The movement was clearly galvanized by the Kelo decision. Over the last year, 47 states have begun reviewing their eminent domain laws, and 23 governors have already signed laws that restrict the use of eminent domain to varying degrees. Eminent domain legislation awaits the governor's signature in a handful of other states. In addition, voters in Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, will head to the polls to decide the fate of state constitutional amendments that reform condemnation laws. Dozens of cities and counties nationwide have also either passed or are considering ordinances to prohibit the use of eminent domain for economic development purposes. Further, the momentum generated by the Kelo backlash has spread to other efforts to protect private property rights. While eminent domain deals with the physical taking of private property, there has also been increased activity to restrict regulatory takings – de facto takings via restrictions on the ability of property owners to use their land in ways legal at the time they bought their property, dramatically reducing their property's value and imposing an economic hardship on them....
The Pain of Eminent Domain It's been almost a year since the Supreme Court decided in Kelo v. New London that bureaucrats may seize homes and businesses through eminent domain and transfer the land to private developers in the name of economic progress. Although the Constitution says government may condemn land only for "public use," the court held that this term means the same thing as "public purpose" or "public benefit." Thus whenever a city council thinks it would "benefit the public" to snatch a house or small business and give it to Costco or Home Depot or any other company, it may do so, and courts will not intervene. Americans reacted with outrage to the decision and urged state officials to pass laws protecting them from eminent domain. But so far this backlash has achieved mixed results. Of the 16 states that have acted since Kelo was decided, only six -- South Dakota, Georgia, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Minnesota and Florida -- have imposed meaningful restraints on government power. Other states have either done nothing or have enacted laws so riddled with loopholes that they allow government to seize whatever property they consider "blighted." Take Alabama, for example. When Gov. Bob Riley signed SB 68A into law, he proclaimed his state the leader of a "property rights revolt." Yet even though the law prohibits government from taking property merely for economic development, that restriction does not apply to property that is declared blighted. Blight is defined as "buildings ... which, by reason of dilapidation, obsolescence, overcrowding, faulty arrangement or design, lack of ventilation, light and sanitary facilities, excessive land coverage, deleterious land use or obsolete layout, or any combination of these or other factors, are detrimental to the safety, health, morals or welfare of the community." Under such vague standards, virtually any neighborhood can be declared a blight, and any home or business located there can be seized and given to developers. Compare this with Florida's new law, signed this month by Gov. Jeb Bush. It declares outright that "the prevention or elimination of a slum area or blighted area ... and the preservation or enhancement of the tax base are not public uses." If government wants to clean up bad neighborhoods, it has to do so in other ways -- by lowering taxes, for instance, or by making it easier to start new businesses, or by buying the land it wants fair and square....
Eminent domain surges after ruling The Supreme Court's decision last year to allow cities and states to seize property for private development "opened the floodgates" to eminent domain actions nationwide, a report says. In the year since the Kelo decision, nearly 6,000 properties nationwide have been threatened or taken under that precedent, more than half the number that had been seized over a previous five-year period, said a report released yesterday by the Institute for Justice. "There has been a huge rise in the number of threats to use eminent domain since Kelo. Cities are wielding eminent domain as a club," said Dana Berliner, a senior counsel with the Institute for Justice and the author of the 100-page report. People threatened with eminent domain are vulnerable, she said, because they feel compelled to sell or have their home or business seized for a fire-sale price. At the same time, Ms. Berliner said, residents have become more active in trying to thwart land grabs and promoting changes to state law to bar the use of eminent domain. Since the high court's 5-4 decision in Kelo v. City of New London, Conn., a year ago Friday, 5,783 properties nationwide have been either seized or threatened with seizure under eminent domain. That number compares with 10,281 examples over the five-year period from 1998 to 2002, said the institute, a public-interest law firm that argued the Kelo case before the Supreme Court. During that period, threats were made to seize 6,560 properties, and 3,721 condemnation filings or authorizations were recorded. In the past year, 5,429 property seizures have been threatened for economic redevelopment projects, plus 354 condemnation filings or authorizations, the institute said....The Institute for Justice has released five reports which you can download from their website: Opening the Floodgates: Eminent Domain Abuse in the Post-Kelo World, Redevelopment Wrecks: 20 Failed Projects Involving Eminent Domain Abuse , Myths and Realities of Eminent Domain Abuse, Legislative Action Since Kelo and Eminent Domain Abuse Survival Guide. You can go here to read Reason Foundation's model statutory language....
Hollywood loses eminent domain fight The city can't take a family's downtown property and give it to a private developer, a judge ruled Thursday, ending a two-year legal battle and potentially jeopardizing a $100 million condominium complex. Broward Circuit Court Judge Ronald J. Rothschild's ruling in favor of the Mach family, which has owned a building on Harrison Street for decades, came as a blow to Mayor Mara Giulianti, who pushed the eminent domain battle over strong protest from residents. It also means that developer Charles "Chip'' Abele will have to alter plans for a 19-story condo and retail complex. "This just shows that a lot of people unified can stand up to a bully, to a government that they don't think is doing the right thing,'' said David Mach, whose late father bought the building after immigrating from Hungary and died during the negotiation process with the city. Mach said he and his mother have no intention of selling to Abele or anybody else. "I just got off the phone with my mother and she was crying,'' Mach said. "She was too emotional to be here, but she is very happy.'' Judge Rothschild issued a very narrow ruling, finding that the city and Abele didn't really need the building to complete the project. Without an absolute necessity, property can't be taken under Florida law....
Property rights measure fails in Legislature A ballot proposal to impose new restrictions on the use of eminent domain to compel property sales to clear slum areas failed Wednesday at the Arizona Legislature. As the Legislature moved to wrap up its 164-day session, the Senate approved the measure but the House failed to act on it. The measure was similar to a bill vetoed earlier this month by Gov. Janet Napolitano. The ballot proposal would have barred municipalities from using eminent domain to boost tax revenue if the planned new use doesn't have an additional public purpose. The measure would have set a new legal standard that local governments have to clear before designating areas as blighted. It also would required cities to provide comparable replacement homes if a property owner's primary residence is taken by the government in a slum clearance or redevelopment....
Lost Liberty Hotel Gets Second Wind An undisclosed New Hampshire town is considering applying the Supreme Court's "Kelo vs. City of New London" decision on those justices who voted for it on the one year anniversary of the ruling. The Lost Liberty Airport is the latest project by Logan Darrow Clements to fight eminent domain abuse. It arrives on the June 23 anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that set loose a wave of home and land seizures across America. A Selectman for the town that is considering the proposal said, "The Supreme Court's Kelo decision was abhorrent. We are slowly losing our individual rights through bad legislation and a misguided judiciary. Perhaps the only way we can stop this trend is to have the people who create and sustain these laws live under them. That's why I as a Selectman in a New Hampshire town will do my best to get my town to support and carry out the plan for the Lost Liberty Airport." According to the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in "Kelo vs. City of New London" a government may use eminent domain to seize homes and land to promote economic development or increase tax revenue. Meanwhile, New Hampshire statute XXXIX chapter 423 allows a town to seize land for an airport outside its border. Since this statute does not require the land to be adjacent territory any town in New Hampshire could seize land inside any other town. Thus any town in New Hampshire could seize David Souter's land in Weare, N.H. or Stephen Breyer's land in Plainfield, N.H. for the creation of an airport. Both Souter and Breyer voted in favor of the Kelo ruling. The airports will be operated by a victim of eminent domain abuse. Thor Solberg owns a private airport in Readington, N.J., which could soon be taken by eminent domain using the logic of the Kelo ruling. On May 16, 2006 the voters of Readington approved a bond authorizing the acquisition of Thor's land. Solberg's Airport, which was built by his father, hosts one of the largest hot air balloon festivals on the East Coast. Said Solberg before the vote, "If the government takes my airport by eminent domain I am ready, willing and able to run the Lost Liberty Airports in New Hampshire....
Kelo: One Year Later Friday marks the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court's Kelo vs. New London decision, which gave cities a green light to seize private homes and businesses for the sole purpose of generating higher tax revenues through redevelopment. On the surface, this would appear to be a significant defeat to those who advocate for stronger protection of private property rights. Yet, the Kelo decision was actually one of the best things that ever happened to the national property rights movement, as it clearly imprinted the precarious nature of private property rights in the public consciousness and has inspired significant reforms nationwide. So where does the national property rights movement stand a year after Kelo? The movement was clearly galvanized by the Kelo decision. Over the last year, 47 states have begun reviewing their eminent domain laws, and 23 governors have already signed laws that restrict the use of eminent domain to varying degrees. Eminent domain legislation awaits the governor's signature in a handful of other states. In addition, voters in Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, will head to the polls to decide the fate of state constitutional amendments that reform condemnation laws. Dozens of cities and counties nationwide have also either passed or are considering ordinances to prohibit the use of eminent domain for economic development purposes. Further, the momentum generated by the Kelo backlash has spread to other efforts to protect private property rights. While eminent domain deals with the physical taking of private property, there has also been increased activity to restrict regulatory takings – de facto takings via restrictions on the ability of property owners to use their land in ways legal at the time they bought their property, dramatically reducing their property's value and imposing an economic hardship on them....
The Pain of Eminent Domain It's been almost a year since the Supreme Court decided in Kelo v. New London that bureaucrats may seize homes and businesses through eminent domain and transfer the land to private developers in the name of economic progress. Although the Constitution says government may condemn land only for "public use," the court held that this term means the same thing as "public purpose" or "public benefit." Thus whenever a city council thinks it would "benefit the public" to snatch a house or small business and give it to Costco or Home Depot or any other company, it may do so, and courts will not intervene. Americans reacted with outrage to the decision and urged state officials to pass laws protecting them from eminent domain. But so far this backlash has achieved mixed results. Of the 16 states that have acted since Kelo was decided, only six -- South Dakota, Georgia, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Minnesota and Florida -- have imposed meaningful restraints on government power. Other states have either done nothing or have enacted laws so riddled with loopholes that they allow government to seize whatever property they consider "blighted." Take Alabama, for example. When Gov. Bob Riley signed SB 68A into law, he proclaimed his state the leader of a "property rights revolt." Yet even though the law prohibits government from taking property merely for economic development, that restriction does not apply to property that is declared blighted. Blight is defined as "buildings ... which, by reason of dilapidation, obsolescence, overcrowding, faulty arrangement or design, lack of ventilation, light and sanitary facilities, excessive land coverage, deleterious land use or obsolete layout, or any combination of these or other factors, are detrimental to the safety, health, morals or welfare of the community." Under such vague standards, virtually any neighborhood can be declared a blight, and any home or business located there can be seized and given to developers. Compare this with Florida's new law, signed this month by Gov. Jeb Bush. It declares outright that "the prevention or elimination of a slum area or blighted area ... and the preservation or enhancement of the tax base are not public uses." If government wants to clean up bad neighborhoods, it has to do so in other ways -- by lowering taxes, for instance, or by making it easier to start new businesses, or by buying the land it wants fair and square....
Eminent domain surges after ruling The Supreme Court's decision last year to allow cities and states to seize property for private development "opened the floodgates" to eminent domain actions nationwide, a report says. In the year since the Kelo decision, nearly 6,000 properties nationwide have been threatened or taken under that precedent, more than half the number that had been seized over a previous five-year period, said a report released yesterday by the Institute for Justice. "There has been a huge rise in the number of threats to use eminent domain since Kelo. Cities are wielding eminent domain as a club," said Dana Berliner, a senior counsel with the Institute for Justice and the author of the 100-page report. People threatened with eminent domain are vulnerable, she said, because they feel compelled to sell or have their home or business seized for a fire-sale price. At the same time, Ms. Berliner said, residents have become more active in trying to thwart land grabs and promoting changes to state law to bar the use of eminent domain. Since the high court's 5-4 decision in Kelo v. City of New London, Conn., a year ago Friday, 5,783 properties nationwide have been either seized or threatened with seizure under eminent domain. That number compares with 10,281 examples over the five-year period from 1998 to 2002, said the institute, a public-interest law firm that argued the Kelo case before the Supreme Court. During that period, threats were made to seize 6,560 properties, and 3,721 condemnation filings or authorizations were recorded. In the past year, 5,429 property seizures have been threatened for economic redevelopment projects, plus 354 condemnation filings or authorizations, the institute said....The Institute for Justice has released five reports which you can download from their website: Opening the Floodgates: Eminent Domain Abuse in the Post-Kelo World, Redevelopment Wrecks: 20 Failed Projects Involving Eminent Domain Abuse , Myths and Realities of Eminent Domain Abuse, Legislative Action Since Kelo and Eminent Domain Abuse Survival Guide. You can go here to read Reason Foundation's model statutory language....
Hollywood loses eminent domain fight The city can't take a family's downtown property and give it to a private developer, a judge ruled Thursday, ending a two-year legal battle and potentially jeopardizing a $100 million condominium complex. Broward Circuit Court Judge Ronald J. Rothschild's ruling in favor of the Mach family, which has owned a building on Harrison Street for decades, came as a blow to Mayor Mara Giulianti, who pushed the eminent domain battle over strong protest from residents. It also means that developer Charles "Chip'' Abele will have to alter plans for a 19-story condo and retail complex. "This just shows that a lot of people unified can stand up to a bully, to a government that they don't think is doing the right thing,'' said David Mach, whose late father bought the building after immigrating from Hungary and died during the negotiation process with the city. Mach said he and his mother have no intention of selling to Abele or anybody else. "I just got off the phone with my mother and she was crying,'' Mach said. "She was too emotional to be here, but she is very happy.'' Judge Rothschild issued a very narrow ruling, finding that the city and Abele didn't really need the building to complete the project. Without an absolute necessity, property can't be taken under Florida law....
Property rights measure fails in Legislature A ballot proposal to impose new restrictions on the use of eminent domain to compel property sales to clear slum areas failed Wednesday at the Arizona Legislature. As the Legislature moved to wrap up its 164-day session, the Senate approved the measure but the House failed to act on it. The measure was similar to a bill vetoed earlier this month by Gov. Janet Napolitano. The ballot proposal would have barred municipalities from using eminent domain to boost tax revenue if the planned new use doesn't have an additional public purpose. The measure would have set a new legal standard that local governments have to clear before designating areas as blighted. It also would required cities to provide comparable replacement homes if a property owner's primary residence is taken by the government in a slum clearance or redevelopment....
GAO
Wildland Fire Suppression: Better Guidance Needed to Clarify Sharing of Costs between Federal and Nonfederal Entities, by Robert A. Robinson, managing director, natural resources and environment, before the Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests, Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. GAO-06-896T, June 21.
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-06-896T
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d06896thigh.pdf
Invasive Forest Pests: Recent Infestations and Continued Vulnerabilities at Ports of Entry Place U.S. Forests at Risk, by Daniel Bertoni, acting director, natural resources and environment, before the Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health, House Committee on Resources. GAO-06-871T, June 21.
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-06-871T
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d06871thigh.pdf
Wildland Fire Suppression: Better Guidance Needed to Clarify Sharing of Costs between Federal and Nonfederal Entities, by Robert A. Robinson, managing director, natural resources and environment, before the Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests, Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. GAO-06-896T, June 21.
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-06-896T
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d06896thigh.pdf
Invasive Forest Pests: Recent Infestations and Continued Vulnerabilities at Ports of Entry Place U.S. Forests at Risk, by Daniel Bertoni, acting director, natural resources and environment, before the Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health, House Committee on Resources. GAO-06-871T, June 21.
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-06-871T
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d06871thigh.pdf
Global Warming Affecting Your Life? E-Mail Us
Witnessing the impact of global warming in your life? ABC News wants to hear from you. We're currently producing a report on the increasing changes in our physical environment, and are looking for interesting examples of people coping with the differences in their daily lives. Has your life been directly affected by global warming? We want to hear and see your stories. Have you noticed changes in your own backyard or hometown? The differences can be large or small — altered blooming schedules, unusual animals that have arrived in your community, higher water levels encroaching on your property. Show us what you've seen. You can include video material of the environmental change, or simply tell your story via webcam. Please fill out the form below, and be sure to include captions or other descriptive information if you're sending video. We hope to hear from you....
Witnessing the impact of global warming in your life? ABC News wants to hear from you. We're currently producing a report on the increasing changes in our physical environment, and are looking for interesting examples of people coping with the differences in their daily lives. Has your life been directly affected by global warming? We want to hear and see your stories. Have you noticed changes in your own backyard or hometown? The differences can be large or small — altered blooming schedules, unusual animals that have arrived in your community, higher water levels encroaching on your property. Show us what you've seen. You can include video material of the environmental change, or simply tell your story via webcam. Please fill out the form below, and be sure to include captions or other descriptive information if you're sending video. We hope to hear from you....
NEWS
Column: Bush's new green thumb PRESIDENT BUSH is petting fish. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne is hugging trees. Everything is going to be just ducky in our wetlands. It's a green revolution in the most arid administration in our lifetime, the political equivalent of seeding the Sahara. The question is whether it is merely an oasis amid desolation. In the last month, the administration has sounded like its main lobbyists were not Exxon but the Sierra Club. Three weeks ago, Kempthorne announced 800 miles of new hiking, biking, boat, and historical trails. Last Thursday, President Bush announced creation of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument, spanning the equivalent distance of Boston to St. Louis. Bush complimented the environmentalists who attended. One of them was filmmaker Jean-Michel Cousteau, the son of legendary marine ecologist Jacques Cousteau. In April, Jean-Michel showed the president and first lady Laura Bush his PBS documentary on the damage being done to the islands. It is a big day when an environmentalist has a movie night at the White House, especially since the film aired on PBS. The next day, Kempthorne, the former governor of Idaho, announced that the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission had approved projects and American and Canadian partnerships that will allow the US Fish and Wildlife Service to restore more than 87,000 acres of North American wetlands. On Monday, environmentalists rubbed their eyes in disbelief as Kempthorne ditched plans by the previous secretary, Gale Norton, that would have softened up the national parks for commercial development....
White House agrees to protect forests The Bush administration Wednesday approved requests from three Eastern governors to bar commercial logging in remote sections of national forests in their states. The petitions from Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina, covering a total of 555,000 acres, were the first submitted to the administration since it eased logging restrictions on what are known as roadless tracts. Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey said from Washington, D.C., that he hoped the acceptance would show governors around the country, including four in the West who have sued to block such logging, that the administration is willing to work with them. "We've always been green," Rey said. "We just haven't gotten credit for it." The petitions still must go through a public review that could take years before the protections are in place. The three governors asked to return roadless areas in their states to the protections that existed under 2001 rules initiated by the Clinton administration....Well, if Mark Rey says they are green, I guess they are green, at least until November. One has to wonder if this sharp turn to the left on environmental policy will really help the Republicans maintain control of Congress. Their polling must be telling them something. What it tells me is that they've done a very poor job of public relations in explaining the little regulatory relief they have brought to the environmental policy arena.
Flights of Logic Twenty-point-four acres: That’s how much land the U.S. Forest Service determined would be occupied by oil and gas companies under last fall’s plan to expand mineral extraction in the nearly 2 million-acre Los Padres National Forest. “It doesn’t seem like much,” admits Jeff Kuyper of the environmental group Los Padres Forest Watch, especially when you consider that the Forest Service looked at a potential 750,000 acres. But there’s one problem with that little number, says Kuyper: “It’s grossly inaccurate.” The 20.4 figure is one of the reasons Kuyper’s group, along with the Center for Biological Diversity and Defenders of Wildlife, served the federal government notice last week that they intend to sue if the feds fail to make significant changes to the oil and gas plan. There are others: the Forest Service failed to adequately assess the plan’s impact on endangered steelhead trout, the plan was written before U.S. Fish and Wildlife had agreed upon critical habitat for the endangered California red-legged frog, and biologists neglected to include “cumulative effects” in their studies. But the discrepancy in that acreage estimate gets to the heart of environmentalists’ concerns about oil drilling in the Los Padres: What looks reasonable in a written report may prove disastrous in practice....
Multiple-use sentiments dominate Forest forum Citizens concerned with a lack of focus on multiple-use recreation in the Flathead National Forest's draft management plan dominated an open forum Saturday at Flathead High School in Kalispell. The forum was hosted by the Flathead National Forest. Citizens were given three minutes to publicly address Forest Service employees and voice opinions on the draft forest plan. The public comment period for the draft plan ends Aug. 7, and the final plan is scheduled to be released this fall. The Flathead National Forest, along with the Lolo, Bitterroot, Kootenai and Idaho Panhandle National Forests, is among the first to submit a revised forest plan under the 2005 Planning Rule guidelines. Of the 35 citizens who made public comment, 34 criticized the forest plan for a lack of focus on multiple-use recreation, specifically motorized use and access. Displeasure of the Forest Services' management of timber was another common concern. Comments repeatedly focused on a belief that the Forest Service has not appropriately set the limits of timber harvest and has not harvested enough timber over the last few decades, resulting in a loss of jobs and tax money for schools, while consequently increasing the threat of wildfires and weakening Montana's timber industry infrastructure....
Vanishing Past Narrow your eyes here, and it's easy to imagine ancient Hohokam villages fanning across the flats, smoke from their low fires curling into desert. Tagged Los Morteros by archaeologists, for bedrock mortars found atop boulders, this Tucson Mountain site bustled with civilization long before civilization gave it a name. But open your eyes a bit wider, and now what you see is the subdivided sprawl of Continental Ranch. Today, entombed under Continental's tidy concrete--beneath the cul-de-sacs and curbing and meaty foundations--are the ghosts of this finally vanished world. Meanwhile, in areas less touched by development than Los Morteros, looters, vandals and off-roaders are taking up the slack. Last year alone, monitors with a state-run volunteer program reported 212 vandalism incidents, 27 lootings, 21 trashed signs, two unearthed human remains, 13 cases of spray-painting and two petroglyph thefts. Amongst deliberate destruction, blind ignorance and so-called progress, Arizona is quickly losing its prehistoric heritage. And that dismays Mary Estes, who runs the volunteer Arizona Site Steward Program for the State Parks Department....
House panel passes Trail of Tears expansion bill A bill calling for a major expansion of the trail memorializing the forced removal of Cherokee Indians from the Southeast in the 1830s passed a House committee today. The bill would require the National Park Service to certify two routes used by some of the 15,000 Cherokees exiled from homes in Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama and North Carolina. U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., sponsor of the bill, said the full House is expected to vote on the measure sometime next month. The bill would add to the Trail of Tears such places as Ross’s Landing in Chattanooga and Fort Cass on the Hiwassee River in Calhoun, Tenn. The two segments, called the Benge and Bell routes, began at Fort Payne, Ala., and Charleston, Tenn., respectively....
Gabilan Ranch Preserved Local nature lovers can breathe a little easier following a more than $4 million deal between the Reeves-Baldocchi-Boyle family and the Nature Conservancy, which guarantees the 11,000 acre Gabilan Ranch just south of Gilroy will remain a wildlife habitat for generations to come. "The ranch is an ecological treasure, in part because its been under the same ownership for the past three generations," said Christina Fisher, Project Director for the Monterey Bay Area chapter of the Nature Conservancy. "There are few roads or developments except for the farm buildings, so the family has preserved much of the ecosystem … you still find native frogs and salamanders in the water, and there are 80 different species of birds here." The conservancy worked with the Gabilan Cattle Company for six years to acquire a $4.2 million conservation easement, which essentially guarantees the conservancy certain rights to the land while the family maintains ownership of the property and continues their cattle operation. In this case, the family promises not to develop the land in any way that might harm the plants, animals or water quality of the land. "There are two primary reasons we were interested in doing this in the first place," said Darrell Boyle, CEO of Gabilan Cattle Company. "First of course was to protect the land … the second was to keep the ranch in our family. We're the third generation running the ranch and we have a long history with this wonderful property."....
Budget pressures leave tough choices Once portals that lured gold-seeking pioneers, the black holes that dot the sun-baked mountainsides of this California desert haunt J.T. Reynolds. The Death Valley National Park superintendent fears tourists will tumble down the decrepit shafts or vanish into the rocky tunnels that abound in his park's famed Gold Rush-era mines and ghost towns. To completely "mine-safe" some 6,000 shafts and caves would take money that Reynolds does not have. "Most visitors do not realize that park resources have been under threat from deterioration, vandalism, neglect and rot for some time," Reynolds said. "We put up a good front and try to keep high visitor-use areas clean and neat. Even this facade is fading due to the lack of appropriate resources." Across the 390 parks, preserves and historic sites that make up the 90-year-old national park system, Reynolds' colleagues face similar tough choices as growing costs from labor, utilities, maintenance, operations and preservation exceed wartime budgets from Washington....
Park ranger accused of soliciting bribes from inmates he supervised A state park ranger took money from prisoners he supervised at a work-release program in exchange for special treatment, police said. Nelson Mompierre, 43, of Key Biscayne, was in charge of inmates who worked at Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park on the southern tip of Key Biscayne. Miami-Dade police detectives and FBI agents began an investigation last June after receiving complaints that Mompierre had solicited money from one of the prisoners. For an $80 bribe, Mompierre allowed a visit at the park between an inmate and the inmate's girlfriend, according to an arrest affidavit. Mompierre also lent the inmate his cellphone, the affidavit said. The same inmate went to the FBI after Mompierre threatened to kick him out of the work-release program unless he paid Mompierre $2,500. An FBI agent posed as the wife of that inmate to infiltrate Mompierre's suspected scheme....
California men face fraud charges in Grand Canyon permit case Two California men have been charged in federal court with using the identities of dead or fictitious people to get permits for private rafting trips in the Grand Canyon. Stephen E. Savage, 61, of Diamond Bar, Ca. made an initial appearance in federal court in Flagstaff Tuesday and was ordered held on 11 counts of fraudulently obtaining rafting permits pending a detention hearing. Savage was arrested by National Park Service special agents at the Grand Canyon River Orientation Center in Lee's Ferry on Sunday. Timothy J. O'Shaughnessy, 45, of Whitewater, Ca. was arrested by authorities in California on Monday and turned over the U.S. Marshal's Service on the same charges, all misdemeanors. He was set for an initial appearance Tuesday afternoon, according the U.S. Attorney's office in Phoenix. Private rafting trip permits for trips in the Grand Canyon National Park are very difficult to obtain, with waiting lists of 10 to 15 years. The list system was abandoned earlier this year in favor of a lottery system. According to an affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, an investigation was launched against Savage in March 2004 after the Parks Service received an anonymous letter from a person who said Savage bragged about illegally getting permits....
More rare than the average bear Visitors to U.S. national parks may be in for some unpleasant surprises this summer: unkempt restrooms, shorter hours at visitor centers and fewer park rangers. In fact, many visitors may not see a National Park Service ranger, as the agency's threadbare budget has forced officials to recruit volunteers to fill jobs formerly performed by federal employees and to reduce or eliminate traditional visitor services. "The old saying in the park service is, `We can do more with less,' " said Craig W. Dorman, superintendent at Lava Beds National Monument, near the Oregon border. "I don't think that's true anymore. We're now in a position of doing less with less." Nationwide, the 390 parks, monuments, seashores and recreation areas managed by the park service are experiencing "challenging" times, said agency Director Fran Mainella....
Column: Bush's new green thumb PRESIDENT BUSH is petting fish. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne is hugging trees. Everything is going to be just ducky in our wetlands. It's a green revolution in the most arid administration in our lifetime, the political equivalent of seeding the Sahara. The question is whether it is merely an oasis amid desolation. In the last month, the administration has sounded like its main lobbyists were not Exxon but the Sierra Club. Three weeks ago, Kempthorne announced 800 miles of new hiking, biking, boat, and historical trails. Last Thursday, President Bush announced creation of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument, spanning the equivalent distance of Boston to St. Louis. Bush complimented the environmentalists who attended. One of them was filmmaker Jean-Michel Cousteau, the son of legendary marine ecologist Jacques Cousteau. In April, Jean-Michel showed the president and first lady Laura Bush his PBS documentary on the damage being done to the islands. It is a big day when an environmentalist has a movie night at the White House, especially since the film aired on PBS. The next day, Kempthorne, the former governor of Idaho, announced that the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission had approved projects and American and Canadian partnerships that will allow the US Fish and Wildlife Service to restore more than 87,000 acres of North American wetlands. On Monday, environmentalists rubbed their eyes in disbelief as Kempthorne ditched plans by the previous secretary, Gale Norton, that would have softened up the national parks for commercial development....
White House agrees to protect forests The Bush administration Wednesday approved requests from three Eastern governors to bar commercial logging in remote sections of national forests in their states. The petitions from Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina, covering a total of 555,000 acres, were the first submitted to the administration since it eased logging restrictions on what are known as roadless tracts. Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey said from Washington, D.C., that he hoped the acceptance would show governors around the country, including four in the West who have sued to block such logging, that the administration is willing to work with them. "We've always been green," Rey said. "We just haven't gotten credit for it." The petitions still must go through a public review that could take years before the protections are in place. The three governors asked to return roadless areas in their states to the protections that existed under 2001 rules initiated by the Clinton administration....Well, if Mark Rey says they are green, I guess they are green, at least until November. One has to wonder if this sharp turn to the left on environmental policy will really help the Republicans maintain control of Congress. Their polling must be telling them something. What it tells me is that they've done a very poor job of public relations in explaining the little regulatory relief they have brought to the environmental policy arena.
Flights of Logic Twenty-point-four acres: That’s how much land the U.S. Forest Service determined would be occupied by oil and gas companies under last fall’s plan to expand mineral extraction in the nearly 2 million-acre Los Padres National Forest. “It doesn’t seem like much,” admits Jeff Kuyper of the environmental group Los Padres Forest Watch, especially when you consider that the Forest Service looked at a potential 750,000 acres. But there’s one problem with that little number, says Kuyper: “It’s grossly inaccurate.” The 20.4 figure is one of the reasons Kuyper’s group, along with the Center for Biological Diversity and Defenders of Wildlife, served the federal government notice last week that they intend to sue if the feds fail to make significant changes to the oil and gas plan. There are others: the Forest Service failed to adequately assess the plan’s impact on endangered steelhead trout, the plan was written before U.S. Fish and Wildlife had agreed upon critical habitat for the endangered California red-legged frog, and biologists neglected to include “cumulative effects” in their studies. But the discrepancy in that acreage estimate gets to the heart of environmentalists’ concerns about oil drilling in the Los Padres: What looks reasonable in a written report may prove disastrous in practice....
Multiple-use sentiments dominate Forest forum Citizens concerned with a lack of focus on multiple-use recreation in the Flathead National Forest's draft management plan dominated an open forum Saturday at Flathead High School in Kalispell. The forum was hosted by the Flathead National Forest. Citizens were given three minutes to publicly address Forest Service employees and voice opinions on the draft forest plan. The public comment period for the draft plan ends Aug. 7, and the final plan is scheduled to be released this fall. The Flathead National Forest, along with the Lolo, Bitterroot, Kootenai and Idaho Panhandle National Forests, is among the first to submit a revised forest plan under the 2005 Planning Rule guidelines. Of the 35 citizens who made public comment, 34 criticized the forest plan for a lack of focus on multiple-use recreation, specifically motorized use and access. Displeasure of the Forest Services' management of timber was another common concern. Comments repeatedly focused on a belief that the Forest Service has not appropriately set the limits of timber harvest and has not harvested enough timber over the last few decades, resulting in a loss of jobs and tax money for schools, while consequently increasing the threat of wildfires and weakening Montana's timber industry infrastructure....
Vanishing Past Narrow your eyes here, and it's easy to imagine ancient Hohokam villages fanning across the flats, smoke from their low fires curling into desert. Tagged Los Morteros by archaeologists, for bedrock mortars found atop boulders, this Tucson Mountain site bustled with civilization long before civilization gave it a name. But open your eyes a bit wider, and now what you see is the subdivided sprawl of Continental Ranch. Today, entombed under Continental's tidy concrete--beneath the cul-de-sacs and curbing and meaty foundations--are the ghosts of this finally vanished world. Meanwhile, in areas less touched by development than Los Morteros, looters, vandals and off-roaders are taking up the slack. Last year alone, monitors with a state-run volunteer program reported 212 vandalism incidents, 27 lootings, 21 trashed signs, two unearthed human remains, 13 cases of spray-painting and two petroglyph thefts. Amongst deliberate destruction, blind ignorance and so-called progress, Arizona is quickly losing its prehistoric heritage. And that dismays Mary Estes, who runs the volunteer Arizona Site Steward Program for the State Parks Department....
House panel passes Trail of Tears expansion bill A bill calling for a major expansion of the trail memorializing the forced removal of Cherokee Indians from the Southeast in the 1830s passed a House committee today. The bill would require the National Park Service to certify two routes used by some of the 15,000 Cherokees exiled from homes in Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama and North Carolina. U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., sponsor of the bill, said the full House is expected to vote on the measure sometime next month. The bill would add to the Trail of Tears such places as Ross’s Landing in Chattanooga and Fort Cass on the Hiwassee River in Calhoun, Tenn. The two segments, called the Benge and Bell routes, began at Fort Payne, Ala., and Charleston, Tenn., respectively....
Gabilan Ranch Preserved Local nature lovers can breathe a little easier following a more than $4 million deal between the Reeves-Baldocchi-Boyle family and the Nature Conservancy, which guarantees the 11,000 acre Gabilan Ranch just south of Gilroy will remain a wildlife habitat for generations to come. "The ranch is an ecological treasure, in part because its been under the same ownership for the past three generations," said Christina Fisher, Project Director for the Monterey Bay Area chapter of the Nature Conservancy. "There are few roads or developments except for the farm buildings, so the family has preserved much of the ecosystem … you still find native frogs and salamanders in the water, and there are 80 different species of birds here." The conservancy worked with the Gabilan Cattle Company for six years to acquire a $4.2 million conservation easement, which essentially guarantees the conservancy certain rights to the land while the family maintains ownership of the property and continues their cattle operation. In this case, the family promises not to develop the land in any way that might harm the plants, animals or water quality of the land. "There are two primary reasons we were interested in doing this in the first place," said Darrell Boyle, CEO of Gabilan Cattle Company. "First of course was to protect the land … the second was to keep the ranch in our family. We're the third generation running the ranch and we have a long history with this wonderful property."....
Budget pressures leave tough choices Once portals that lured gold-seeking pioneers, the black holes that dot the sun-baked mountainsides of this California desert haunt J.T. Reynolds. The Death Valley National Park superintendent fears tourists will tumble down the decrepit shafts or vanish into the rocky tunnels that abound in his park's famed Gold Rush-era mines and ghost towns. To completely "mine-safe" some 6,000 shafts and caves would take money that Reynolds does not have. "Most visitors do not realize that park resources have been under threat from deterioration, vandalism, neglect and rot for some time," Reynolds said. "We put up a good front and try to keep high visitor-use areas clean and neat. Even this facade is fading due to the lack of appropriate resources." Across the 390 parks, preserves and historic sites that make up the 90-year-old national park system, Reynolds' colleagues face similar tough choices as growing costs from labor, utilities, maintenance, operations and preservation exceed wartime budgets from Washington....
Park ranger accused of soliciting bribes from inmates he supervised A state park ranger took money from prisoners he supervised at a work-release program in exchange for special treatment, police said. Nelson Mompierre, 43, of Key Biscayne, was in charge of inmates who worked at Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park on the southern tip of Key Biscayne. Miami-Dade police detectives and FBI agents began an investigation last June after receiving complaints that Mompierre had solicited money from one of the prisoners. For an $80 bribe, Mompierre allowed a visit at the park between an inmate and the inmate's girlfriend, according to an arrest affidavit. Mompierre also lent the inmate his cellphone, the affidavit said. The same inmate went to the FBI after Mompierre threatened to kick him out of the work-release program unless he paid Mompierre $2,500. An FBI agent posed as the wife of that inmate to infiltrate Mompierre's suspected scheme....
California men face fraud charges in Grand Canyon permit case Two California men have been charged in federal court with using the identities of dead or fictitious people to get permits for private rafting trips in the Grand Canyon. Stephen E. Savage, 61, of Diamond Bar, Ca. made an initial appearance in federal court in Flagstaff Tuesday and was ordered held on 11 counts of fraudulently obtaining rafting permits pending a detention hearing. Savage was arrested by National Park Service special agents at the Grand Canyon River Orientation Center in Lee's Ferry on Sunday. Timothy J. O'Shaughnessy, 45, of Whitewater, Ca. was arrested by authorities in California on Monday and turned over the U.S. Marshal's Service on the same charges, all misdemeanors. He was set for an initial appearance Tuesday afternoon, according the U.S. Attorney's office in Phoenix. Private rafting trip permits for trips in the Grand Canyon National Park are very difficult to obtain, with waiting lists of 10 to 15 years. The list system was abandoned earlier this year in favor of a lottery system. According to an affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, an investigation was launched against Savage in March 2004 after the Parks Service received an anonymous letter from a person who said Savage bragged about illegally getting permits....
More rare than the average bear Visitors to U.S. national parks may be in for some unpleasant surprises this summer: unkempt restrooms, shorter hours at visitor centers and fewer park rangers. In fact, many visitors may not see a National Park Service ranger, as the agency's threadbare budget has forced officials to recruit volunteers to fill jobs formerly performed by federal employees and to reduce or eliminate traditional visitor services. "The old saying in the park service is, `We can do more with less,' " said Craig W. Dorman, superintendent at Lava Beds National Monument, near the Oregon border. "I don't think that's true anymore. We're now in a position of doing less with less." Nationwide, the 390 parks, monuments, seashores and recreation areas managed by the park service are experiencing "challenging" times, said agency Director Fran Mainella....
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Jaguar Conservation Team Working Group Meeting on June 29-30
Dear Jaguar List
Unfortunately, there's not a lot of motels available in Douglas. Here's the numbers for the few that are available. If you have not reviewed the response from AZ Game and Fish on the comments for the draft framework, they can be found at:
http://www.azgfd.gov/pdfs/w_c/jaguar/June2007/JAGCTConservationFrameworkPublicComment.pdf
The new Memorandum of Agreement can be found at:
http://www.azgfd.gov/pdfs/w_c/jaguar/June2007/JAGCTMOA2006-2010Draft.pdf
Please read both documents and come prepared to discuss them.
We are supposed to be getting the revised conservation framework soon. Will let you know if and when it becomes available.
Judy Keeler
Motels available in Douglas
Motel 6 - 520-364-2457 - just down the street from the meeting
HUMMINGBIRD INN - 520-364-9356 - a bed and breakfast
Gadsden - no phone number - very historic, although doesn't always have enough hot water for all its guests - some of the rooms do not have airconditioning
----- Original Message -----
From: AZGFD
Sent: Wednesday, May 31, 2006 6:54 PM
Subject: Endangered Species Updates - Jaguar
Endangered Species Updates
May 31, 2006
Jaguar Conservation Team Working Group Meeting on June 29-30
Note: this meeting is open to the public, within the limits of available seating, on a first-come, first-seated basis
The next Jaguar Conservation Team (JAGCT) Working Group meeting is on June 29-30, at the Douglas Visitor’s Center, 345 16th Street, Douglas, Arizona. Subcommittee chairs: please contact Bill Van Pelt (602.789.3573) before June 16 regarding any photocopying needs.
The draft Conservation Framework, a summary of public comment on the previous draft, a draft Memorandum of Agreement, and a copy of the agenda will all be uploaded in pdf format to the AGFD jaguar webpage between Noon and 5 pm on Thursday June 1.
Agenda – June 29, 2006 – 10:00 am start time (local time)
A. Opening comments and ground rules
B. Agenda review/additional discussion points
C. Discussion of summary notes from April 27-28, 2006 JAGCT Working Group meeting
D. Discussion of possible additional signatories to the current and/or future Conservation Agreement under which the JAGCT operates
E. Task reports:
1. Update on AZ-NM sightings: Tim Snow and Jim Stewart
2. Kill verification activities/camera surveys: Jack Childs
3. Coordination with Mexico: Bill Van Pelt
4. Update on JAGCT progress report: Bill Van Pelt
F. Conservation Assessment and Framework
G. Memorandum of Agreement
H. Other Business
I. Close meeting (5 pm, or earlier if business has been completed)
Agenda – June 30, 2006 – 8:30 am start time (local time)
[Note: This session will not be held if work is completed on the previous day]
A. Conservation Assessment and Framework
B. Close meeting (3 pm, or earlier if business has been completed)
Note: For further information on jaguar conservation in the Southwest, please visit the JAGCT’s webpage at http://www.azgfd.gov/w_c/es/jaguar_management.shtml.
Dear Jaguar List
Unfortunately, there's not a lot of motels available in Douglas. Here's the numbers for the few that are available. If you have not reviewed the response from AZ Game and Fish on the comments for the draft framework, they can be found at:
http://www.azgfd.gov/pdfs/w_c/jaguar/June2007/JAGCTConservationFrameworkPublicComment.pdf
The new Memorandum of Agreement can be found at:
http://www.azgfd.gov/pdfs/w_c/jaguar/June2007/JAGCTMOA2006-2010Draft.pdf
Please read both documents and come prepared to discuss them.
We are supposed to be getting the revised conservation framework soon. Will let you know if and when it becomes available.
Judy Keeler
Motels available in Douglas
Motel 6 - 520-364-2457 - just down the street from the meeting
HUMMINGBIRD INN - 520-364-9356 - a bed and breakfast
Gadsden - no phone number - very historic, although doesn't always have enough hot water for all its guests - some of the rooms do not have airconditioning
----- Original Message -----
From: AZGFD
Sent: Wednesday, May 31, 2006 6:54 PM
Subject: Endangered Species Updates - Jaguar
Endangered Species Updates
May 31, 2006
Jaguar Conservation Team Working Group Meeting on June 29-30
Note: this meeting is open to the public, within the limits of available seating, on a first-come, first-seated basis
The next Jaguar Conservation Team (JAGCT) Working Group meeting is on June 29-30, at the Douglas Visitor’s Center, 345 16th Street, Douglas, Arizona. Subcommittee chairs: please contact Bill Van Pelt (602.789.3573) before June 16 regarding any photocopying needs.
The draft Conservation Framework, a summary of public comment on the previous draft, a draft Memorandum of Agreement, and a copy of the agenda will all be uploaded in pdf format to the AGFD jaguar webpage between Noon and 5 pm on Thursday June 1.
Agenda – June 29, 2006 – 10:00 am start time (local time)
A. Opening comments and ground rules
B. Agenda review/additional discussion points
C. Discussion of summary notes from April 27-28, 2006 JAGCT Working Group meeting
D. Discussion of possible additional signatories to the current and/or future Conservation Agreement under which the JAGCT operates
E. Task reports:
1. Update on AZ-NM sightings: Tim Snow and Jim Stewart
2. Kill verification activities/camera surveys: Jack Childs
3. Coordination with Mexico: Bill Van Pelt
4. Update on JAGCT progress report: Bill Van Pelt
F. Conservation Assessment and Framework
G. Memorandum of Agreement
H. Other Business
I. Close meeting (5 pm, or earlier if business has been completed)
Agenda – June 30, 2006 – 8:30 am start time (local time)
[Note: This session will not be held if work is completed on the previous day]
A. Conservation Assessment and Framework
B. Close meeting (3 pm, or earlier if business has been completed)
Note: For further information on jaguar conservation in the Southwest, please visit the JAGCT’s webpage at http://www.azgfd.gov/w_c/es/jaguar_management.shtml.
NMSU RODEO
NMSU roper Garza wins national team roping title
Date: 06/21/2006
Contact: Jim Dewey Brown, (505) 646-3659, brownji@nmsu.edu
Reporter: Darrell J. Pehr, (505) 635-2017, pehr@nmsu.edu
When the rope cinched tight around the rear legs of a steer Saturday night in the final round of the College National Finals Rodeo in Casper, Wyo., Matt Garza and his team roping partner captured the first national title for New Mexico State University since 1990.
Garza, of Mesilla Park, N.M., and his partner, Central Arizona College team member Chance Means of Cliff, N.M., held off strong challenges throughout the weeklong National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association competition and won the timed event by less than half a second after four runs.
“I would have liked to have had a little more time to spare,” Garza said. “It made us that much more aggressive. We knew we had a pretty tough job to do. We knew we had to give it 110 percent.”
In their championship run Saturday, Means, the header on the team, quickly roped the steer’s head, then held and turned the steer to give Garza, the heeler on the team, a clear shot at the back legs, which also must be roped.
“My partner did an outstanding job, so I didn’t have to take a wild shot,” Garza said. “He didn’t make him really wild. He was gathered and his feet were together.”
The clock showed the time of the run – 6.5 seconds – fast enough for a championship.
“My partner threw his hat in the air,” Garza said. “When I realized we had won, I lost it. I went nuts. I threw my hat and we did our victory lap.”
NMSU also had top national finishes from calf roper Wacey Walraven of Datil, N.M., who placed ninth and Arcel Allsup of Duncan, Ariz., who took 10th in calf roping. NMSU barrel racer Krista Norell of Meeker, Colo., finished eighth overall.
For Garza and Means, their victory means $1,500 scholarships, custom roping saddles and other winnings. For NMSU’s rodeo program, the victory is symbolic of the success the growing program has seen over the past several years.
“It gives us a little recognition that we are contenders,” said Coach Jim Dewey Brown. “It shows that we do have great athletes coming to this school.”
The national title is the first for NMSU since 1990 when bareback bronc rider Randy Slaughter won the event.
Garza and Means roped together all season and captured the regional championship before heading to the national finals, where Garza was ranked eighth in the nation and Means was seventh. Means plans to transfer to NMSU in the fall.
Garza grew up around team roping and started competing when he was 14. His father, Homer Garza, taught him how to rope and has been his primary coach through the years. Matt Garza said attending NMSU offers him both an opportunity to be part of a good organization and the benefits of being able to practice at his home.
“This school’s a great school,” he said. “The championship means a lot to me. I’ve worked really hard. I was really excited to be going up there and representing our team. It’s unbelievable to come out on top. It was like a dream come true.”
Garza and Means have been friends since competing in high school rodeos, and, not long after going to college, they agreed to team up.
“I picked him because he’s really dedicated,” Garza said. “He always makes sure he has a really good horse and you can always find him in the arena. He’s a winner and you want to be with the best.”
What does it take to succeed at the national level?
“A lot of hard work and dedication,” Garza said. “If you want it bad enough and work on it hard enough, you can accomplish it. You have to have a good horse. You have to practice. You have to love the sport. I fell in love with it and ever since, I crave being out there and competing.”
Garza said the growth of the rodeo team, thanks largely to rodeo supporter Frank DuBois, made a big difference in helping him choose to attend NMSU.
“If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be there rodeoing for NMSU,” Garza said. Garza was one of 21 recruits who were awarded DuBois scholarships in 2004-2005, along with Walraven and Norell. Garza was awarded the Hotch and Carolyn Manning rodeo scholarship. As of last fall, the team included 41 scholarship athletes in the program, which DuBois organized and expanded as the team has grown over the past several years.
NMSU roper Garza wins national team roping title
Date: 06/21/2006
Contact: Jim Dewey Brown, (505) 646-3659, brownji@nmsu.edu
Reporter: Darrell J. Pehr, (505) 635-2017, pehr@nmsu.edu
When the rope cinched tight around the rear legs of a steer Saturday night in the final round of the College National Finals Rodeo in Casper, Wyo., Matt Garza and his team roping partner captured the first national title for New Mexico State University since 1990.
Garza, of Mesilla Park, N.M., and his partner, Central Arizona College team member Chance Means of Cliff, N.M., held off strong challenges throughout the weeklong National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association competition and won the timed event by less than half a second after four runs.
“I would have liked to have had a little more time to spare,” Garza said. “It made us that much more aggressive. We knew we had a pretty tough job to do. We knew we had to give it 110 percent.”
In their championship run Saturday, Means, the header on the team, quickly roped the steer’s head, then held and turned the steer to give Garza, the heeler on the team, a clear shot at the back legs, which also must be roped.
“My partner did an outstanding job, so I didn’t have to take a wild shot,” Garza said. “He didn’t make him really wild. He was gathered and his feet were together.”
The clock showed the time of the run – 6.5 seconds – fast enough for a championship.
“My partner threw his hat in the air,” Garza said. “When I realized we had won, I lost it. I went nuts. I threw my hat and we did our victory lap.”
NMSU also had top national finishes from calf roper Wacey Walraven of Datil, N.M., who placed ninth and Arcel Allsup of Duncan, Ariz., who took 10th in calf roping. NMSU barrel racer Krista Norell of Meeker, Colo., finished eighth overall.
For Garza and Means, their victory means $1,500 scholarships, custom roping saddles and other winnings. For NMSU’s rodeo program, the victory is symbolic of the success the growing program has seen over the past several years.
“It gives us a little recognition that we are contenders,” said Coach Jim Dewey Brown. “It shows that we do have great athletes coming to this school.”
The national title is the first for NMSU since 1990 when bareback bronc rider Randy Slaughter won the event.
Garza and Means roped together all season and captured the regional championship before heading to the national finals, where Garza was ranked eighth in the nation and Means was seventh. Means plans to transfer to NMSU in the fall.
Garza grew up around team roping and started competing when he was 14. His father, Homer Garza, taught him how to rope and has been his primary coach through the years. Matt Garza said attending NMSU offers him both an opportunity to be part of a good organization and the benefits of being able to practice at his home.
“This school’s a great school,” he said. “The championship means a lot to me. I’ve worked really hard. I was really excited to be going up there and representing our team. It’s unbelievable to come out on top. It was like a dream come true.”
Garza and Means have been friends since competing in high school rodeos, and, not long after going to college, they agreed to team up.
“I picked him because he’s really dedicated,” Garza said. “He always makes sure he has a really good horse and you can always find him in the arena. He’s a winner and you want to be with the best.”
What does it take to succeed at the national level?
“A lot of hard work and dedication,” Garza said. “If you want it bad enough and work on it hard enough, you can accomplish it. You have to have a good horse. You have to practice. You have to love the sport. I fell in love with it and ever since, I crave being out there and competing.”
Garza said the growth of the rodeo team, thanks largely to rodeo supporter Frank DuBois, made a big difference in helping him choose to attend NMSU.
“If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be there rodeoing for NMSU,” Garza said. Garza was one of 21 recruits who were awarded DuBois scholarships in 2004-2005, along with Walraven and Norell. Garza was awarded the Hotch and Carolyn Manning rodeo scholarship. As of last fall, the team included 41 scholarship athletes in the program, which DuBois organized and expanded as the team has grown over the past several years.
MAD COW DISEASE - JAPAN TRADE
Japan To Finish Audit Of US Beef Plants By July 21 Japan is expected to wrap up its audit of U.S. beef producing plants by July 21, paving the way for a resumption of U.S. exports to Japan, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Wednesday. The USDA, in a prepared statement, said teams of Japanese auditors "will arrive in the U.S. this weekend and conclude their work by July 21. Upon completion of the audits, Japan has agreed to expeditiously resume beef trade." U.S. and Japanese negotiators reached an agreement early Wednesday morning EDT that bridged several disagreements between the two countries on how beef trade would resume. That agreement is expected to be implemented soon after the audits are completed. USDA Secretary Mike Johanns said later Wednesday that he is pleased with the deal reached by negotiators, but stressed he will "not be satisfied until U.S. beef is once again accepted into the Japanese market." U.S. and Japanese negotiators met for eight hours in two video conference sessions Tuesday and into the morning Wednesday to resolve their differences. One sticky issue was U.S. demands that Japan provide assurances that it won't allow future non-compliance issues with individual shipments to disrupt all beef trade. Johanns said he believes that was accomplished....
NCBA Statement On Japan’s Commitment to Resume Trade of U.S. Beef “America’s cattlemen appreciate the work by Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns and top officials at the U.S. Department of Agriculture for their continued focus on U.S.-Japan trade discussions. But after years of empty promises and continued delays, U.S. beef producers remain skeptical of Japan’s dependability as a trading partner. “As we proceed with implementing steps toward trade resumption, NCBA will continue to insist on science-based standards. Under this current agreement, there remains no language to provide for the export of bone-in product or for beef from animals between 20 and 30 months of age. “The United States meets or exceeds all guidelines established by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) to freely export beef and beef products from cattle aged 30 months and less. Japan’s requirement of boneless beef from cattle aged 20 months and less is an artificial and unscientific barrier to trade. “While we are hopeful these issues can be worked out over time, we know from experience that Japan has become an unreliable trading partner. Our cattlemen have paid a tremendous price for the continued delays by Japanese officials to resume beef trade based on scientifically-recognized principles....
Conrad/Roberts Bill Imposes Tariffs on Japanese Products Unless Date is Set U.S. Senator Pat Roberts, a senior member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, and Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND) today introduced legislation to impose tariffs on Japanese products if a date is not set to reopen the Japanese market to U.S. beef. “Today’s announcement that the Japanese intend to open their markets to U.S. beef is a step forward, but Japan must make good on its commitment. Until there is a specific date for actual trade to resume, and product is at port in Japan, it's not a done deal." Senator Roberts said. “We have been through this before and need to demonstrate to the Japanese that U.S. beef is safe.” At issue is the continued delay by the Japanese Food Safety Commission in resuming normal beef trade, based on internationally recognized science, after the discovery in January of spinal cord material in a single shipment of U.S. beef. The legislation, introduced by Roberts and Conrad with wide bipartisan support, sets deadlines by which the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) must certify that Japan has reopened its borders to American beef. According to the bill, USTR must provide this certification or lack thereof to Congress by August 31, 2006....
Japan To Finish Audit Of US Beef Plants By July 21 Japan is expected to wrap up its audit of U.S. beef producing plants by July 21, paving the way for a resumption of U.S. exports to Japan, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Wednesday. The USDA, in a prepared statement, said teams of Japanese auditors "will arrive in the U.S. this weekend and conclude their work by July 21. Upon completion of the audits, Japan has agreed to expeditiously resume beef trade." U.S. and Japanese negotiators reached an agreement early Wednesday morning EDT that bridged several disagreements between the two countries on how beef trade would resume. That agreement is expected to be implemented soon after the audits are completed. USDA Secretary Mike Johanns said later Wednesday that he is pleased with the deal reached by negotiators, but stressed he will "not be satisfied until U.S. beef is once again accepted into the Japanese market." U.S. and Japanese negotiators met for eight hours in two video conference sessions Tuesday and into the morning Wednesday to resolve their differences. One sticky issue was U.S. demands that Japan provide assurances that it won't allow future non-compliance issues with individual shipments to disrupt all beef trade. Johanns said he believes that was accomplished....
NCBA Statement On Japan’s Commitment to Resume Trade of U.S. Beef “America’s cattlemen appreciate the work by Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns and top officials at the U.S. Department of Agriculture for their continued focus on U.S.-Japan trade discussions. But after years of empty promises and continued delays, U.S. beef producers remain skeptical of Japan’s dependability as a trading partner. “As we proceed with implementing steps toward trade resumption, NCBA will continue to insist on science-based standards. Under this current agreement, there remains no language to provide for the export of bone-in product or for beef from animals between 20 and 30 months of age. “The United States meets or exceeds all guidelines established by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) to freely export beef and beef products from cattle aged 30 months and less. Japan’s requirement of boneless beef from cattle aged 20 months and less is an artificial and unscientific barrier to trade. “While we are hopeful these issues can be worked out over time, we know from experience that Japan has become an unreliable trading partner. Our cattlemen have paid a tremendous price for the continued delays by Japanese officials to resume beef trade based on scientifically-recognized principles....
Conrad/Roberts Bill Imposes Tariffs on Japanese Products Unless Date is Set U.S. Senator Pat Roberts, a senior member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, and Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND) today introduced legislation to impose tariffs on Japanese products if a date is not set to reopen the Japanese market to U.S. beef. “Today’s announcement that the Japanese intend to open their markets to U.S. beef is a step forward, but Japan must make good on its commitment. Until there is a specific date for actual trade to resume, and product is at port in Japan, it's not a done deal." Senator Roberts said. “We have been through this before and need to demonstrate to the Japanese that U.S. beef is safe.” At issue is the continued delay by the Japanese Food Safety Commission in resuming normal beef trade, based on internationally recognized science, after the discovery in January of spinal cord material in a single shipment of U.S. beef. The legislation, introduced by Roberts and Conrad with wide bipartisan support, sets deadlines by which the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) must certify that Japan has reopened its borders to American beef. According to the bill, USTR must provide this certification or lack thereof to Congress by August 31, 2006....
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